Afraid of the Dark
by TheDogzLife
Summary: Once again, Nippon is at danger from evil - however this time, the source appears to be but an insignificant man. As Amaterasu and Chibi try and save the world once more, this time it looks like they may need some extra help...
1. Prologue

**I write too many stories at the same time OTL**

**Just another thing I've wanted to write for a while now, an Okami fanfic where all characters are united against the enemy or something along those lines. Because I love stories like that. Kinda like Ginga but with less dogs and more ninjas xD**

**This will be all canon characters, other than this random evil dude who pretty much got made up on the spot.**

**And possibly some random made-up demons but I'm not sure xD**

**Also this is based a few months after Okamiden, so... beware of spoilers.**

**Oh and at least one character is going to die in this. Wheeeeeee.**

* * *

Candles flickered in the low light of a cavern. Yet unlike many would expect, instead of filling the room with twitching light, these candles emitted darkness, causing the walls to become shrouded with black shadows. The cave was ice cold, the warmth being sapped away by the unusual candles. It would have been enough to give frostbite to any normal human.

A lone man walked calmly across the stone floor, his sandals making little noise against the slate. The grey shirt, loose-fitting red hakama and black draping cloak he was clad in would have seemed little protection from the cold, but he wasn't even shivering. Black dreadlocked hair framed his expressionless face, and there was a sheathed sword on either side of his belt, as well as a small bag.

He was almost invisible in the darkness of the cave. This place was in one of the most abandoned parts of Nippon, below the cliffs on the very outskirts of Kamui. A snowstorm raged outside, yet in the depths of darkness it was silent, other than the echoing of footsteps.

A line of rocks loomed up ahead. They were cloaked in darkness, but the man could see them. A large slab lay slightly apart from the rest, almost like a table. What he was looking for lay upon it, glinting ever so slightly in the shadows.

It looked like little more than a small shard of glass, but it had more relevance than that. The man wouldn't have come all the way out here for nothing more than a broken window.

He took the pouch from his side and poured the contents out over the rock. More glass and something that looked like glitter, or perhaps fish scales.

Now it was starting to look like some kind of crafts project from a five year old, but he wasn't finished yet. The man took a bottle from his coat pocket. Whatever it had been, it was frozen solid from the frigid temperature. As he held it in his hand it slowly melted and changed to a blue liquid. He gave the bottle an experimental shake and the liquid splashed around inside.

"Heh. This had darn well better work," he growled, his voice hoarse. He couldn't have come out here for nothing, and he hadn't spoken to anyone in ages. Why should he? There was no one worth talking to.

The lid of the bottle was stiff, but he opened it easily and poured the blue liquid over the rock as well. The second all of the strange ingredients met, the air of the cave became washed with an evil power. It would have been enough to choke an ordinary human.

Once again, the man was unaffected.

Even he couldn't see the rock through the blackness that swelled around it now. The ground and walls of the cave started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Then after half a minute it stopped, and the dark foggy cloud faded.

The rock was no longer covered with a giant mess. Instead there was something that resembled a fish bowl. Inside was a small black creature that looked like some kind of fish, or perhaps an embryo. That wasn't important to the man, however.

The creature opened its eyes slowly. It was curled up in a ball, but it lifted its head when it saw the man. Red eyes burned with hatred and confusion.

"Hello there, Yami."

The creature tipped its head to one side in confusion. Perhaps because this man knew what its name was. Perhaps just because it wondered why it was here.

"So you were the lord of darkness that was destroyed by a wolf just over a year ago."

Its eyes narrowed.

"Don't glare at me, stupid fish. I've been all over the land finding your scattered remains. The least you could do is show a little gratitude."

No reply. Did the 'dark lord' not even know how to speak?

"Down to business. I've brought you back because you are going to be my minion."

Yami almost looked surprised.

"Surely you didn't think I'd want to serve _you_? You're just a petty fish. Pathetic."

There was a buzzing sound as Yami curled back into a ball, charging his laser. Then the cave exploded into light as a ray of heat shot from the bowl and headed towards the man.

Seemingly unfazed, he held out one hand. A barrier appeared in front of him, deflecting the laser and causing it to spread out and burn against the sides of the cave instead. As the heat vanished, a few of the dark candles had been burnt and now flickered with light instead of darkness. Shadows danced around the room.

"I see you don't have much power without that metal armour. You'll have to work on that if you're going to make a worthy follower."

Yami just glared at him. It was hard to tell if the embryo even had a mouth to reply with in the first place.

"Still not convinced? Very well, have it your way."

The man walked forward and placed one hand on the glass. Yami prepared to fire his laser again.

Then all of a sudden the liquid in the sphere he was in gained temperature. It started to boil. The embryo flailed his fin-like arms in fear as it burned his small body.

After a moment the man took his hand away, and the water cooled down quickly due the coldness of the air.

"You see, it really would be best if you joined me," the man smirked, watching Yami's red eyes which had stretched so wide that the black rims could be seen. "Or else next time you might end up on a plate with some chips."

The resurrected demon lord stared at the man for a moment longer. His vision was slightly impaired now since some of the glass surrounding him had melted where the man had placed his hand, and his skin stung from where he had been burnt, which was practically all over. No one had ever done something like that before.

Reluctantly, the embryo nodded.

"That's a good fish," the man said coldly. "Once you stop being so pathetic, your first task is to swarm Nippon with evil again, just like you did before. Surely that won't be too hard. If you behave nicely I might even resurrect some of your old friends too."

Yami took all of this in, not responding with any changes of glare this time. It didn't look like he had much choice.

"And don't even think about getting defeated by that stupid wolf again, or else I'll kill you before she has the chance. And it'll be a thousand times more painful than anything some petty god can do."

If he could swallow, Yami would have. He didn't have his full power yet. Against this strange man he was pretty much helpless.

"Of course, if you don't want to, I could just bake you until your fish bowl melts and you turn to dust."

Hurriedly the embryo shook his head.

"Good. In that case, I'll be going now. But you'd better fulfil your task, unless you're even more useless than I thought."

The man turned to leave, his footsteps echoing around the quiet cave one more as he vanished in the darkness. Yami was left in silence for a moment, sore and confused. Hopefully his power would return to him quickly or he'd end up being cooked alive.

Then the silence was broken once more.

"And by the way, my name is Tero." The man's voice, though quiet, was amplified by the smooth rocks of the cave. "But you will know me as 'master'."


	2. The Celestial Plain

**Hazaah, onto the first chapter-that-isn't-a-prologue. And now some shizz is gonna go down bro.**

**Or something along those lines.**

**This random Tero guy is like some strange mix of Waka, Death the Kid, Sid, Mifune, Scar, Roy Mustang and Harry Potter... and that list keeps growing. It's creepy really xD**

**Ah yes, Issun has his perverted nature back. I missed that in Okamiden. Well, other that that one comment to Chibi...**

**There's a lesson to be learnt from this chapter.**

**Don't pick fights with people who can burn you.**

**Au revoir!**

* * *

"Oi, fruitcake! Don't you know any other tunes?" Issun shouted as he looked up into the treetops from where he was sat on Amaterasu's head, just like the good old days. They'd been sat listening to the flute music that echoed around the forest on the Celestial Plain for a while now and he was starting to get bored of it. Or more accurately, he'd got bored of it the moment they arrived.

The notes stopped. "You just have no taste in music, my little bouncing friend," Waka called from where he was sat on one of the tree branches.

"Oh yeah? Well you have no taste in _anything_." Issun rolled his eyes. He still didn't like Waka. Spending months on the Celestial Plain with him was one of the worst things he could have imagined. Still, he'd had a laugh when he'd found out the prophet had long golden hair hidden underneath that bird hat he often wore. Hah, that was probably the reason he'd always worn it when they were in Nippon. Now he only seemed to have it on when he wanted to fly anywhere. The wings looked different, but apparently the old ones had been destroyed in the fight with Yami.

Though with that guy's track record, Issun doubted he'd actually done much of the fighting in the first place.

"You would say that, eh, little envoy? Speaking of which, isn't it about time you returned to Nippon?"

"I'm sure the guys down there can manage without my artistic ability," Issun shrugged.

"But you've been here for months."

Amaterasu gave a bark, and Issun was thrown off her head, handing on the grass nearby.

"Ow! Furball, I wish you'd give me more warning when you do that," he grumbled, jumping up onto her nose. "Wait, you're not agreeing with that darn prophet are ya? You want me to leave?"

Ammy tipped her head to one side slightly, her eyes sad. Issun could tell she didn't really want him to leave her again, but he was a Celestial Envoy. He needed to be in Nippon, making sure everyone kept believing in her so she wouldn't lose her powers. In fact, he probably should have gone back ages ago. But he liked being on the Celestial Plain, back with Amaterasu again. Bar an annoying prophet.

"Ah, okay, I get the idea, I need to get back to my job sooner or later," he sighed, hopping back onto her head. "But I'll at least stay for another few days. Or maybe a week. Even though I still don't like long goodbyes."

Amaterasu barked again, her tail wagging now that she knew he wouldn't be leaving right away.

"But can we please get out of here? That racket is driving me crazy." He pointed towards the canopy.

"Everyone's a critic," Waka shrugged, watching as the goddess and poncle raced away through the dappled sunlight.

* * *

Outside of the forest and in the direct sunlight it was a lot warmer. Even Amaterasu's white fur was starting to get warm. It was starting to make Issun feel uncomfortable. But that wasn't the only reason.

"Hey, furball," he started, sitting up on her head. "You don't _really_ want me to leave, do you?"

He had to scramble for a hold on her fur as she shook her head.

"Heh, thought so," Issun smiled. "I don't really wanna leave either. But, y'know, Sakuya only gave me permission to go to the Celestial Plain for a short while… I mean, she's not really my boss, but if I ignore what she said she might start wearing more clothes just so I can't jump into them. Y'know?"

Even though he couldn't see Amaterasu's expression from here, he could tell she rolled her eyes.

"And besides, I don't think I even really told anyone I was going. If I don't go back soon, old man Ishaku will have my head. An' I don't want another argument like last time." He shivered despite how hot it was. "Anyways, where's Chibi got off to now?"

As if he'd only just reminded her about her son, Ammy raised her head higher and glanced around, sniffing the air. Issun held one hand up to shield his eyes from the sun.

Then the goddess barked and he nearly fell off her head again. He had to hold onto her ear to avoid being blown away as all of a sudden she raced off across the grass.

"You really need some lessons in parenting, you know that?" he shouted as he fought to keep his grip.

* * *

The Celestial Plain. It was quite a sight. Plenty of grass, trees, mountains, rivers… but that was of no interest.

It had taken Tero quite a while to find this place. Finding the location of a heavenly realm that floated in the sky a long way above the land had been hard. But he'd finally made it here, and that was the main thing.

He'd come alone. No point bringing any demons with him, they'd have slowed him down. But he didn't need them anyway.

His plan was already underway. Now that he had Yami working for him, half of it would be already in place. Unless the stupid fish went back on his orders. Tero wondered for a moment whether a demon would be any good for sushi. After all, when his plan was finished he'd have no other use for him…

Oh well. Lunch would have to wait. He had better things to do right now. First of all he'd have to find someone on this massive plain. And, it seemed, that might be easier than he first expected…

Straightening out his coat, he headed towards the woods. He was bound to find someone so long as he followed the sound of the flute.

* * *

The air was beginning to grow colder, and golden light was seeping through the leaves of the trees. It was getting close to the evening now, the sun starting to set. Knowing Amaterasu she might randomly turn it into morning or night at any point, so Waka decided to enjoy the beautiful colours of the sunset-lit forest while he could.

He stopped playing the flute and leant back against the trunk of the tree he was sat in, letting out a quiet sigh. Maybe Issun was right. That tune was starting to get rather old now…

Ah well, he could work on finding something else later.

Suddenly he heard the sound of crunching leaves somewhere nearby.

"Huh?" he muttered quietly as he sat up, glancing down at the forest floor below. Had Amaterasu come back again? He'd expected to have heard Issun complaining about something or other if she had… the poncle never seemed to leave her alone nowadays. It was beginning to irk him. The sooner he left the better.

But it didn't sound like Amaterasu's footsteps. There weren't enough of them. One of the Hanagami trio, perhaps?

No, it was someone else. He could see them now, a person in the distance walking in this direction. Their hands were in the pockets of a long black coat, and they walked very sure-footedly, as if they knew where they were going.

Waka's eyes narrowed. Who was this person? And how had they got to the Celestial Plain? He'd been back here for over a year now and seen just about every tree, rock or hill in this place, and he knew there were no other people living here.

Strange…

He stood up and jumped from the branch. It was at least ten metres from the ground, but the wings on his hat enabled him to float safely down to the ground. Landing with expert balance, he turned to see the person heading towards him. They stopped a few metres away.

"Bonjour," Waka said, his voice somewhat guarded. "May I ask who you are? Or what you are doing here?"

"I see the Celestial Plain has a welcome party," the stranger muttered. He had the voice of a young adult, but it was gruff, as if he hadn't spoken in a while. "Name's Tero. What I'm doing here is none of your business."

"Perhaps you'd like to explain how you got here? Normal humans cannot visit the Celestial Plain." It was true. Since the plains were in heaven no human would be able to breathe here.

"Oh, I see. You're one of those moon idiots."

Waka made no reaction to the remark, but he had to admit he was surprised. Hardly anyone knew of the Moon Tribe, let alone would recognise someone from it. The rest of the tribe had been destroyed centuries ago.

So who was this man? He couldn't be completely human or he would have suffocated by now.

They clearly weren't here to make friends, whoever they were.

"Excusez-moi, but you still have not answered my first question. Why are you here?"

"I told you, it's none of your business," Tero growled. "But perhaps you didn't hear me properly. I can barely understand a word you're saying as it is."

This guy was seriously starting to try his patience. It was a good thing Waka was able to keep his cool so well. "If it's a fight you're after, you can have one. So long as your intellect is enough to have just understood that sentence?"

"A fight? I have no reason to waste my time on lunar idiots. There's only one whom is even worth my time and that is the stuck-up brat of a goddess, Amaterasu."

Okay. Patience gone. "I'm afraid you'll have to go through me first."

Waka drew the green blade of light from his flute, transforming it into a sword. The energy from it caused some of the leaves on the floor around him to rustle. He hadn't fought another person in quite a while, but he'd spent the past year helping to kill the demons that had taken over the plains, so winning this battle would be no sweat.

"Fine, have it your way," Tero shrugged, his voice cold. "Hopefully beating the life out of you will make up for the few seconds of mine you'll have wasted."

The stranger grabbed the hilts of both his sheathed swords, drawing them at the same time and slicing them through the air in a cross, scarring the trees on either side of him. Then he dashed forward.

He was quick. _Very_ quick.

But Waka was still faster.

The prophet jumped aside, avoiding the attack. And it was a good thing he did. Tero's strike was so fierce it sliced most of the way through the tree he'd been standing in front of, narrowly avoiding cutting it in half.

This guy was crazier than he'd first thought.

Swiftly, Waka drew his second sword and used it to slice across Tero's arm. Blood splashed onto the forest floor and the prophet jumped away before the strange man could retaliate.

"I see you're a samurai, huh." Tero glanced at the gash on his shoulder before turning around to face him. "Looks like this might actually be interesting."

"Tao master. Slight difference," Waka shrugged, calmly wiping the blood from his sword. "But there's no need to fear. I have no intention of killing you."

"That's too bad," Tero smirked.

He sped forwards once more, this time throwing one of his swords aside where it embedded itself in the earth.

Confused over the man's tactics, Waka held up his katana to block the attack. Much to his surprise, however, Tero feigned the strike this time and instead shifted to grab hold of Waka's wrist.

_What the-_

"Gah!" he yanked his hand free as suddenly pain shot up his arm and he backed away once more. What had just happened?

Glancing at his wrist in shock, he realised that his skin had started to blister, almost as if something had burnt him…

Who the heck was this guy?

"It's too bad," Tero repeated, retrieving the sword he'd thrown aside. "Because I have every intention of killing _you_."


	3. Memories

**Soooo the next chapter. And I'm starting to feel like a proper sadist now. In every chapter so far someone's got beaten up in some way or other xD**

**Maybe next one won't be so violent... pfffffff...**

**Also there will probably be some pairings in this... likely to be some AmmyxWaka, the other one should also be pretty obvious... xD**

**THE OINA ACTUALLY HAVE FACES. LE GASP.**

**And Chibi, don't be such an angstpot.**

**And Oki knows nothing about girls. Hooray.**

* * *

Chibiterasu padded along the bank of a stream, the sand soft under his paws and the sound of the water drifting by somewhat calming. An orange butterfly fluttered past, wings glimmering in the sunlight, and he paused to watch it.

"Hey, dude."

His ears twitched in surprise and he span round. That voice…

"Did you miss me, boy?"

There was no one here. That he could see, anyway. Cherry blossom leaves fluttered past in the breeze. Why was there no one here? He could hear their voice…

Glancing around eagerly, he searched for a familiar red scarf fluttering in the wind.

But there was no one.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

_Where are you…? Kurow…!_

He barked, trying to call out to the boy, wherever he might be. He could smell the scent but he couldn't see anything other than the terrain. Why? Why could he only hear the voice?

"You want to know where I am, huh? I'm dead. _You_ killed me. There's nothing you can do about it."

_No… Kurow, I'm sorry… I had to…! No…_

_No!_

Chibi jolted awake, jerking his head up and glancing around in fear, tears streaming down his face. The moon hung eerily in the sky, washing the Celestial Plain with a pale white glow.

No scents in the air now, other than Amaterasu's, and Issun's considerably fainter scent since he was so small. They were asleep nearby.

Another dream. No, another _nightmare_. They used to occur a lot just after Kurow died, but he hadn't had one for a while now…

He'd forgotten just how much they hurt.

A familiar ache throbbing in his heart, Chibi scrambled to his paws. He thought about waking his mother, but that was an almost impossible task… and Issun wouldn't be much help. He didn't seem to be able to understand Chibi as well as Amaterasu, so the poncle would probably have no idea what he was trying to tell him if he even tried.

Perhaps he should just go for a walk to clear his head. Hesitating for a moment to wipe a paw over his face, he wandered up the slope of a nearby hill.

On higher ground there was a slight breeze that ruffled his red and white fur. Usually he'd enjoy it, but now it was only reminding him of his dream… he could almost imagine picking up Kurow's scent on each breath of wind that brushed against him.

The crescent moon hanging in the sky wasn't much help either. He could have just painted a sun and turned it into day, but Amaterasu might get mad at him if he did that…

Maybe he just needed to go somewhere away from the moonlight.

Glancing around, he finally spotted somewhere shaded. Then he dashed down the side of the hill, heading towards the dappled shadows of the forest.

* * *

Ah, relief. The light of the moon no longer taunted him here. Chibi trotted along the leaf-littered paths, weaving around trees and hopping over any roots that stuck out of the ground.

His head was a lot clearer now, and the pain was starting to ebb away. Only downside was he wasn't sleepy anymore. Oh well. It was funny, only a few months ago he'd been running around Nippon battling demons, and now the most danger he got into was disobeying his mother…

Suddenly he froze. Scent.

Kurow? Was he still dreaming?

Wait, that wasn't Kurow. Just… similar scent. But shouldn't he have got used to that by now?

Then he realised the reason memories were now flashing in his mind was because of another scent… in fact, it was almost overpowering the original one…

For a moment Chibi seized up in fear. No, he couldn't freeze. Swallowing hard, he warily padded up to the top of a small rise that was a few metres away.

A few moments later, he was racing back through the forest, yelping as loud as he possibly could.

* * *

"I win!"

"Hey, you've been through this forest a hundred times!" Oki panted as he slowed to a halt in the small clearing, out of breath. "You have an advantage."

"You're just slow," Kai teased, nudging his shoulder with her head before transforming back into a human, sliding her deer mask up onto her forehead.

Oki gave himself a brisk shake and did the same. In human form at least he'd cool down from the run quicker. "Why did we come out here again?"

"I wanted to see if Issun was back yet. He hasn't been to Wep'keer in months."

"Well, he is a Celestial Envoy. Maybe he's just been busy?"

"Maybe."

Not really sure what to say, Oki awkwardly brushed off the snow that was starting to settle on his clothes. He knew that Issun and Kai had been friends for a long time, and she always made a big fuss whenever the poncle returned to Kamui in-between his journeys. But it was true, Issun hadn't been out to the village in ages… what if something had happened to him?

Nah, there were no demons around anymore. The worst that could have happened to the poncle would be getting stepped on by someone. The thought almost made Oki laugh, but he was sure to keep a straight face since Kai was still standing right next to him.

The Oina girl walked over to the large tree stump that housed the tiny village of Ponc'tan and tapped lightly on the wood. "Anyone around? It's Kai."

For a moment everything was silent. Then a pair of butterfly wings appeared in the entrance to the village.

"Oh, hey Kai! And Oki," Miya chirped, the wings on her butterfly hat twitching as she tipped her head to one side. "What's up?"

"Has Issun been around lately? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Issun? He's been away for ages," Miya shrugged. It was impossible to see her expression because she was surrounded by a yellow glow. "But Old Man Ishaku doesn't seem too worried, so he's probably okay."

_How would he know? _Oki thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud. He'd never met Ishaku, the chief of Ponc'tan and sixth Celestial Envoy, but apparently he was even older than Kemu – and somehow not as crazy. Then again, poncles could live for a very long time, or so Issun had told him.

"Oh… okay," Kai said, seemingly slightly disheartened. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Miya vanished back inside the tree stump.

Neither Kai nor Oki spoke for a moment.

"Well, they think he's okay," Oki pointed out, trying to sound encouraging. "And you know what Issun's like. He's vanished for a whole year before, I'm sure he's fine."

Kai hesitated for a few seconds. Then she turned back towards him and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. So, how do you feel about your chances at beating me back to Kamui again?"

"Probably close to zero," Oki shrugged with a grin, pulling his mask down over his face. "Unless you'll give me a head start?"

Kai laughed. "No way!"

* * *

She was already waiting at the edge of Yoshpet when Oki arrived, gasping for breath after the long run. They hadn't entered the open fields of Kamui yet, but in the valley they were in Oki could see the snow streaming past overhead.

"I got lost," Oki panted, giving a feeble bad-loser excuse.

To his surprise, Kai didn't tease him. She was too busy watching the sky. "The weather looks like its getting bad, are you sure you'll be okay getting home?"

"Huh? Sure," he shrugged, not really sure why she was concerned. He changed back to a human once more. "I know the village is much closer but c'mon, Kai, I'm an Oina. A little snowstorm is nothing to me."

Though he had to admit, this one looked pretty harsh…

"If you say so," Kai shrugged, not seeming totally convinced. Oki didn't understand why she always seemed to worry so much about him nowadays. She hadn't been this bad when he'd taken Kutone and run off on his own to try and defeat the twin demon owls. Something he wasn't entirely proud of.

"We'd better go before it gets any worse then," Oki broke off from his confusion as he paced through the snow, heading along the path leading back to open Kamui.

"Yeah…"

He stopped for a moment. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing… I just haven't seen a snowstorm this bad in a while. Don't worry."

"I didn't think I was the one who was worried," Oki teased. "C'mon, let's get outta here."

"Okay," Kai sighed as she followed him.

Oki was even more puzzled now, but he tried to push the confusion away. Sometimes he really didn't understand her…

* * *

As soon as the path opened out, Oki could feel the full force of the snowstorm. It must have come on whilst they were in the forest, because when they'd been here less than an hour ago there had simply been a few snowflakes drifting in the breeze. Now they raged past so fiercely it was impossible to see more than a few metres in front of him, and the wind dragged at his red and black hair as if it were trying to pull him over.

Oki considered whether he should go with Kai back to Wep'keer, but if he did that she'd probably only start worrying about him later. It looked like he was going to have to hike through the snowstorm, then.

"Lovely weather, huh?" he joked, raising his voice over the wind. "You'd better get back to Wep'keer before you freeze over."

"It definitely wasn't this bad earlier," Kai worried. "And old man Kemu usually knows when there's a snowstorm coming…"

"Don't worry about it, Kai, so long as we don't stand around in the cold for too long we'll be fine!" Oki rolled his eyes. Luckily Kai wouldn't have been able to see that action due to the bear mask covering his face. Maybe she was like this because Lika was starting to grow up now, so Kai didn't have to look after or worry about her little sister so much anymore. But why did Oki have to be the one she diverted all that concern to?

"Yeah," Kai shivered, pulling her thick green and brown coat tighter around her against the cold as she followed him.

They headed for the bridge across the frozen river, marking the start of the path to Wep'keer. The layer of snow on the ground was getting higher by the minute. At this rate he might end up having to wade through waist-high snow to get home…

Suddenly he heard Kai's voice again, raised above the sound of the wind.

"Oki, look out!"

"Huh?" Oki glanced around. He could barely see her through the snow, or what he was supposed to be looking out for. Was Kai just being over-protective again?

Then suddenly he realised there was something bounding towards him.

_Namahage!_ He hadn't seen any of those in over a year now. What was one doing here?

He didn't react fast enough as it jumped towards him. A giant blade sliced through the air, cutting his side.

"Oki!" Kai wailed.

Blood splashed onto the white ground and Oki was knocked over from the impact, collapsing in the snow.

"OKI!"

* * *

Usually, Issun was woken up by a sudden light as Amaterasu drew the sun in the sky, turning the night into morning. She didn't seem to like leaving the sun to rise on it's own.

Today, he was woken when he hit the ground.

"Ow!" he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Furball, what the heck's with you? I was asleep!"

No reply.

"Ammy? Where are ya?" he called, glancing around. Luckily the grass here was pretty short so he didn't have trouble seeing his surroundings.

It was still night-time. What on earth would have possessed that furball to run off so quickly she didn't even make it the day? Or that she left him behind? He saw her tail vanish over the top of the hill nearby.

"Thanks a lot, furball," he tutted, jumping to his feet and bouncing up the side of the hill after her. He could move pretty fast but he probably wouldn't be able to catch up to her… bah, he'd just have to try and follow as best he could.

As soon as he reached the top of the hill, he could see where Amaterasu was. She was speeding towards the forest, flowers sprouting behind her as she ran. Chibi was a little way behind, not able to run as fast as his mother since he only had short legs. What the heck was going on?

Shrugging, Issun raced after them.

* * *

By the time he reached the edge of the trees there wasn't a wolf in sight. Great. How was he supposed to find them now?

Suddenly there was a loud howl from somewhere deeper in the forest. A few birds exploded from the trees, crying out in surprise.

"Ammy!" Issun shouted, starting to become concerned now.

Something was wrong.

He hurried through the forest, heading in the direction he thought he'd heard the howl from. It was hard to tell. Everything echoed around here.

"Darn it, furball, you'd better not have got yourself into trouble," he grumbled. He hadn't even thought there _was_ anything dangerous on the Celestial Plain anymore. Hadn't they got rid of all the monsters here?

Eventually he spotted some white fur in the distance. Chibi. He was sat at the top of a small hill.

"Hey, Chibi!" Issun shouted.

The young god didn't react to him.

Becoming even more concerned now, Issun hopped over. "Chibi, what's the matter?"

The pup glanced back at him but didn't reply. He was trembling…

"What the heck is going on here!" Issun snapped, looking around. For the first time he realised that among the golden colours of the fallen leaves there was something else, glinting slightly in the dim light that seeped through the canopy.

Blood.

A _lot_ of blood.

"Ammy!" Issun shouted again, hurrying up to the top of the hill, almost afraid of what he might find.

He was about to breathe a sigh of relief. Amaterasu looked fine. But then he realised there was someone else with her in the valley below, collapsed on the ground.

"Holy smokes…" he muttered. "Waka!"


	4. Used To Be

**[EDIT: Wow this seems to be my chapter for the typos escaping me xD First Issun was asking if Waka was "head" and now apparently Kai has murdered someone...]**

**Sheesh, I need to stop making these chapters so annoyingly short... -_-**

**Anyways, we now discover the FATES of Oki and Waka...**

**Well that's a little dramatic but meh.**

**And also some more new-old characters hooray.**

**You can tell I'm just making half of this up on the spot huh? xD**

**TO SEI'AN**

**DUNUNUNUNUNUNUNUNUNUN**

* * *

"Stupid monster," Oki said through gritted teeth as he forced himself to stand up. He now had a massive pain in his side and he could feel where blood was starting to soak into his clothes…

The Namahage was hopping around him as if it was doing some kind of weird dance. When it realised he was up again it swung the blade around once more.

Luckily this time Oki saw it coming and was able to dodge out of the way.

He unsheathed the sword at his side, wincing as the action made the wound sting. How had he been hit so easily by a Namahage? He was definitely out of practice due to the lack of evil around…

And why was a demon even _here_?

The strange-looking monster seemed to have turned its attention to Kai, who looked frozen in more ways than one where she stood about five metres away.

If that thing attacked her, she wouldn't stand a chance…

"Dammit," Oki muttered, lunging forward and slicing through the Namahage.

The demon's clumsy gait was brought to a halt as it crumpled to the ground, bleeding oddly-coloured blood onto the snow.

"Oki…" Kai murmured.

The Oina warrior glanced around, making sure there weren't any other Namahages. Other than the wind, the snowy fields were silent.

Somewhat relieved, he fell to his knees, clutching the wound on his side. He was soaked with blood and melted snow, and freezing cold. Well, more than usual, anyways.

Within a few seconds Kai was at his side. "Oki! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied, thankful his mask hid the pained expression on his face. He didn't want her worrying about him.

Kai quickly wiped a hand over her face underneath her deer mask, as if she'd been crying. "Well… you don't look fine. Maybe you should come back to Wep'keer and let Tuskle see to that wound…"

For a moment Oki was about to protest, but it was a long walk across Kamui back to his home, and he didn't know if there were any more Namahages around… and besides, if he didn't go with her, Kai would only start fussing over him again. He let out a quiet sigh.

"Okay. I'll go."

* * *

"Hey! Hey, prophet!" Issun shouted, hopping down into the valley until he was standing a few feet away from Waka. Was he dead? Not that Issun really cared, of course… but still, if the fruitcake died Ammy would probably be sad, and he didn't like it when she was sad.

But the prophet made no response to the high-pitched voice or to Amaterasu nudging his face with her nose.

"Hey, fruitcake, get up!" Issun snapped. As much as he hated being anywhere near the prophet he jumped over, trying not to step in any blood. There was an awful lot of it here…

He jumped onto Waka's side. Well, he was still warm. Issun listened for a moment to try and hear a heartbeat. It was faint but still there. As soon as he heard it he sprung away. Eww. Gross. Half-baked blood.

"Don't worry, furball, he's still alive," Issun shrugged, wiping his hands on a clean patch of grass to over-emphasise how much he disliked that prophet.

Amaterasu looked slightly relieved, but he could tell she was still worried.

And to be honest, Issun was too. Not so much about the fact that Waka was half-dead, but worried about _how_ this had happened. The prophet had always been annoyingly quick when it came to a fight, and Issun hadn't thought he'd manage to get beaten up this badly…

His thoughts were broken as the goddess looked over at him and barked.

"What? Ammy, go find Yomigami yourself! You can run a million times faster than me!" he tutted. The dragon god was the one who knew the most about first aid, since he was the god of Restoration. And that had come in handy when they'd been fighting demons.

Then again, Issun and Waka were the only ones who could clearly understand Ammy…

"Second thoughts, furball, I'd better go with you. Though I have no idea how I'm going to explain this." He hopped over onto Amaterasu's head. "Chibi, you stay here and protect the half-baked prophet so nothing tries to eat him or whatever. I doubt any animal would even want to but he's a fruitcake so you never know."

The red and white wolf puppy was still sat at the top of the ridge, shaking.

"Or… just sit there," Issun muttered, making sure to keep hold of Ammy's fur as she raced past. If he fell off she probably wouldn't go back to retrieve him.

He didn't understand why Chibi was so scared. Perhaps it was all the blood? Or because someone had almost died? Bah, he was only a puppy. Maybe it was just something that Issun couldn't understand.

* * *

"Get back, you stupid demon!"

An imp jumped around, letting our freaky screeching noises. It looked like it wasn't going to take orders from a human even if it could understand.

The monster jerked as it was hit by what seemed like a piece of paper. Then it dropped to the dusty ground, dissolving into cherry blossom leaves that floated away in the breeze until it looked like the imp had never been there at all.

Kagu flicked her ribbon-laced ponytail in contempt. She wasn't sure why there had been a demon here, but she'd gotten rid of it now. It looked like her miko powers were still just as good as ever. And it was just as well; she had to practise most of the time to make sure they didn't start to fade.

"Psh. Stupid imp's made me late for rehearsals," she tutted. Dusting down her dress, she turned and headed along the path down to the beach, on her way back to Sei'an.

It had been a quiet few months, ever since she'd gone back to her life of performing and miko training. She hadn't seen Pooch since Akuro had been defeated, but well… he was a god. He was probably out there somewhere.

And when she saw him again, she'd have to tell him off for not going to visit her sooner.

Still, she hadn't seen any imps or demons in general for quite a while now. It had been quite a surprise when one jumped her outside Ankoku temple but she'd defeated it easily. Ha, that would teach it not to mess with her. Well, not that it could now…

Suddenly she heard another weird noise.

More imp shrieks. From somewhere behind her…

Kagu turned to see three imps gaiting along the path towards her, where she was stood on the sand. Where were all these imps coming from?

Oh well. She could take on three imps easily. They'd picked the wrong girl to mess with.

She slipped a hand into her pocket, grabbing hold of three prayer slips, ready to throw them at the imps when they got too close.

"Gyaaa!"

"Huh?" distracted, she glanced around. The shout had echoed, so she couldn't tell where it was coming from…

_Oh heck, the imps!_

They were nearly upon her now.

Then they stopped.

Mid-air.

They immediately stopped shrieking and collapsed to the ground. Something had cut them in half…

"What the…" Kagu glanced around to see someone standing a few feet away, a large wooden sword in their hand. "You idiot! I was about to defeat them before you distracted me!"

"Oh well. I'm sorry. It's a warrior's duty to look out for girls in trouble."

"I wasn't in-"

She froze.

This boy… not much taller than her, slightly torn purple clothes, black hair tied up…

Kagu knew him.

"Kuni…?"

The boy just stared at her.

"Kuni, it's me, Kagu! You remember me?"

"Sure I remember you. But I'm not Kuni."

"What?" Kagu blinked in disbelief. "Don't be stupid! You're Kuni! I know you are!"

"Well, I'm not."

Was it possible that this was just someone who _looked_ like Kuni?

No. He remembered her.

"You idiot! You just said you remembered me! Of course you're Kuni! You're lying to me."

"I'm not lying," the boy muttered, glancing away. "I _used_ to be Kuni. I'm not anymore."

"Huh?" Now he wasn't making any sense… "So… who are you then…?"

"I don't know who I am. I'm just no one." The boy sighed. He glanced back at her. "Well, I guess you're okay since you're shouting at me. I'll be going then." He turned to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Nowhere."

"But… where do you live…? I thought you were from the East…"

"Not anymore. I don't have a home. I'm just travelling around."

"But you're just a kid!" Kagu protested. "If you don't have a home anymore, why don't you come back to Sei'an with me?"

"I don't care if I'm just a kid. I don't know who I am," he said quietly, not looking back. "I thought I could find out, but I was wrong."

Kagu watched as he walked away, leaving footprints in the sand.

"But you're Kuni," she murmured, now that he was out of earshot. "How can that have changed?"


	5. Half Baked

**I'm sorry all these chapters are really short... ;-;**

**Maybe I should plan the chapters beforehand like I did with FotT... then they might turn out longer...**

**ANYWAYS**

**Guess who's turn it is to be beaten up this time~**

**Also, Tero has a new nickname. Teroster. Because he's a toaster.**

**NOW MAKE ME SOME TOAST!**

***gives bread***

**And I just remembered the other person he reminds me of: Ghirahim.**

**This list is really getting long now...**

**Also origami wasn't invented till the 17th centuary... and Okami is like, heian Japan or something... BUT OH WELL.**

**NOW LET US EAT TOAST AND BE MERRY!**

* * *

Amaterasu paced back and forth across the entrance to the cave. She didn't intend to. It just sort of happened automatically, is if her paws had a mind of their own. The sun was high in the sky now, not of her doing, shining down on them, though that didn't make her feel any better.

"Stop pacing around, furball, you're making me dizzy," Issun sighed from where he was sat on a rock a few metres away. A while ago he'd been sat on her head, but after she'd walked back and forth a dozen times he'd decided to move to solid ground. "What's the big deal anyways? He's just a half-baked prophet."

Ammy ignored him. There were very few times when Issun genuinely annoyed her but now was one of them. Couldn't he at least be a bit sympathetic? Issun didn't care about Waka at all, it seemed.

Then couldn't he at least realise how much _she_ cared?

"Ammy, if you keep pacing around like that you're going to wear your paws out. Or at least the ground. You've already flattened all the grass around here."

She ignored him again.

Issun tutted. "Why you so worked up, furball? I bet that darn prophet was just faking half of that for attention."

The goddess froze.

"I mean, you know how much of a fruitcake he is. He probably isn't even that badly hurt."

A growl rising in her throat, Ammy turned to glare at him.

"Sheesh, Ammy, what's wrong with you?" Issun grumbled, hopping onto the somewhat-flat grass. "I thought we hated that two-bit idiot."

Finally letting out the snarl she'd been keeping back, Amaterasu darted forwards until she was only centimetres from the poncle. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl. Issun was so surprised he stumbled over backwards, nearly losing his beetle hat.

"Furball…!" he cried. "You know what? Fine. Just keep padding after the stupid prophet, see if I care. Maybe I should just go back to Nippon so you can spend all your time with him, huh?"

Her eyes narrowed.

Issun clearly noticed. "Well then, _Amaterasu_, I'll just go check on Chibi, shall I? Hopefully he still isn't ignoring me as well! Not to mention he's probably been sat out in that forest for ages!"

Ammy watched as Issun turned and hurried away, her glare unchanging. If Issun was going to act like that, then good riddance.

She continued pacing around. The image of Waka lying beaten on the ground wouldn't get out of her mind. She didn't know who had done this to him, or how.

But when she found out, they were going to pay for it. Big time.

* * *

Wind whistled past the door, which had been shut tight to keep the weather out. Snow was still whirling around outside, even though it was hard to tell since there were no windows in here.

Oki stared into the fire sulkily. Tuskle had sorted out his wound ages ago, and even though it was still sore he knew it wasn't going to affect him much. Yet Kemu had forbidden him to leave the village until either he was completely healed or the snowstorm died down. And that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon. So for now, he was stuck in Kai's house, looking after her little sister.

Lika was sat across the room, folding a piece of paper whilst looking at a scroll. Oki wasn't really paying much attention. He was more bothered by the fact that there had been a demon here. Why? Ever since he'd replaced Kutone and the Ark of Yamato had vanished, it had been pretty quiet in Kamui.

So if there were demons returning, he couldn't be cooped up here. He needed to be out trying to get rid of them!

"Oki, Oki! Look what I made!"

"Hm?" the warrior glanced around, the room seeming dark after he'd been looking at the fire for so long.

Lika scrambled over to him and held out the folded piece of paper. It looked like an origami swan. Slightly misshaped, but it was still easy to tell what it was.

"Hey, that's pretty good," he smiled, ruffling Lika's hair.

She giggled and pushed her clumsily large mask back up over her head. "Kai's been teaching me how to do origami!"

"In that case, I can tell she's been doing a very good job."

Lika grinned again and jumped on Oki, hugging him tightly. He winced slightly as his side started to hurt again. It was almost hard to believe Lika had been the one who saved Kamui last year by performing the Volcanic Incantation to get the twin volcanoes of Ezofuji to erupt and melt the snow. On the other hand, it was hard to believe there actually hadn't been any snow here at one point…

Thinking of that time just reminded him of when he'd taken Kutone. Some of the villagers had said he was being selfish trying to defeat the demons on his own. But that wasn't why he'd done it. He wanted to defeat the demons by himself so that no one else got hurt trying… he'd just wanted to protect the people he cared for.

And there was no way he could do that by sitting around here.

He pried Lika from him and stood up. "I'm going outside, you behave yourself, ok?"

"Kay," she muttered, wandering back over to the scroll she'd left on the other side of the room. Oki knew that she didn't really need watching over. Looking after Lika had been a blatantly obvious excuse to avoid making him feel useless. It hadn't worked.

Oki pushed open the door and stepped outside into the snowstorm, the full force of it hitting him immediately. It was even worse than before. But that wasn't going to stop him. He needed to protect the village.

Pulling his mask down over his face, he headed for the path to Kamui.

* * *

The grass around him blurred slightly as Issun raced back towards the forest. Stupid furball. Stupid prophet! He hated him even more now.

Though maybe he had been a little harsh… but still, Ammy didn't have to go and growl at him like that. He didn't like Waka and she knew it. Besides, she'd had no problem with him shouting insults at the prophet before.

"Chibi!" Issun shouted as he entered the forest. Looking for the young wolf would take his mind off things. And besides, Amaterasu was terrible at looking out for her son. "Chibi, are you still out here?"

No reply. Maybe he'd left. That wouldn't be surprising…

Issun surveyed the blood-stained area from afar, not really wanting to go anywhere near there. He couldn't see any white fur, so Chibi must have gone somewhere. He'd probably gone back outside. No one would want to be in this forest for long if someone had just been almost killed there.

"Bah, he ain't here," Issun tutted. He wanted to get out of here as well.

"Who are you looking for, bug?"

The unfamiliar voice took him by surprise, and Issun jumped around to see a man in a black coat standing behind him. Who was this guy?

And what right did he have to call Issun a bug?

"Who the heck are you?" he snapped, bouncing around in fury, the glow around him turning red. This guy had definitely made a bad impression.

"That's not your problem," the stranger muttered. "So, who are you looking for? Your friend?"

"Huh?" How would he know about Chibi?

"You're not looking for the guy with the funny hat?"

"The funny— ha! You think he's my _friend_? Wow, you're not very logical, are ya?" Issun laughed. Wait. "Hey, hang on a sec. You're not the guy that beat him up, are ya? You don't look like much."

"I'll let you decide upon that yourself," the man growled.

So he was the guy. Wow. He must be a pretty good fighter then… either that or Waka was really crap. Issun wasn't sure what he found more hilarious.

But no matter. Perhaps Issun could make it up to Ammy by taking a chunk or two out of this guy. She'd forgive him then.

He drew his pin-like sword. "You may have managed to lay the smack down on that half-baked prophet, but you won't stand a chance against the great Issun!"

For a moment it almost looked like the stranger smiled. "We'll see about that."

Issun hopped forward quickly. This guy was gonna regret wearing sandals…

As he sliced his sword through the air it came down among the fallen leaves, skewering a few of them in half.

"Huh?" Issun blinked. What just happened? That man had been standing there just a moment ago…

The suddenly something grabbed him and he was lifted into the air.

"What the— hey!" Issun protested, realising he was now trapped in the stranger's fist. "You can't do that!"

"Can't I? I didn't think little bugs like you had much of a say in what I can and can't do. In fact, no one does. You know of the god Amaterasu. I want you to bring her here."

"Eh? Don't be ridiculous, there's no way I'm bringing Ammy to a creep like you!"

"That is a shame. You're such a pathetic little bug."

Issun wished he still had his sword so he could stab this guy in the hand.

"But you know what the good thing is about bugs?" the man smirked. "They're very easy to kill."

Issun was about to protest when suddenly it felt as if he'd walked into a fire. He was too shocked to cry out in pain even though he somehow seemed to be getting burned alive…

Something white flashed in the corner of his eye.

Then he blacked out.

* * *

When he started coming to his senses again, Issun realised he was on the ground, lying among the fallen leaves. He hadn't thought it was possible to hurt everywhere at once…

Then he realised he could hear barking.

_Ammy…?_ He opened his eyes slowly. Thankfully his head hadn't been burnt.

No, it wasn't her… Chibi was stood not far away, yapping furiously. The stranger was still there, seemingly confused.

"You can't seriously be Amaterasu? You're far too small."

"That's cuz this ain't Ammy," Issun muttered weakly, trying to get up. Painfully. Luckily Chibi had turned up when he did, or Issun would have been baked to a crisp. He had no idea how that had happened, but this guy must have some kind of freaky powers or something. And that was exactly why he didn't like strange guys.

"Well then, like I said, bring her here."

"Hah, yeah. Like we're gonna do that."

"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way then," the stranger muttered, taking a step forward.

Chibi let out a growl. Yet the man didn't look fazed.

Then the wolf pup dived forward, trying to bite his leg.

"You idiot, Chibi, don't bite him! You don't know where he's been!"

Instead of trying to use any of his strange powers on him, the man simply kicked the puppy away, where he landed with an explosion of leaves.

"Chibi!"

The man reached down once more, and Issun, unable to make a run for it, was imprisoned inside a hand once more.

"Now then," the stranger turned towards Chibi, who was scrambling to his paws and growling fiercely. "Be a good dog and bring that stupid goddess out here. Unless, of course, you want the little bug to be squashed."

Chibi hesitated for a moment.

Despite knowing he was in incredible danger here – and pain – Issun sighed. "Just go find the furball, Chibi. If anyone at least she might be able to put this guy in his place."

After another moment's hesitation, Chibi nodded and raced away.

And as he watched him go, Issun was stuck thinking how ironic it was that for once he was the one who was half-baked.


	6. Reasoning

**Well, look who's finally awake... IT'S ABOUT TIME MAN.**

**Shit just got real bro**

**On the other hand, we now learn that Tero does not like I Spy. Or at least does not willingly participate in it with his victims.**

**How we love Issun's ability to act like an idiot in just about any situation~**

* * *

_Oww… what… where am I…?_

Waka opened his eyes slowly, feeling as if he'd just been asleep for ages. Everything was hazy at first, but he was definitely somewhere dimly lit, like a cave. His head ached. Why was he here again?

He tried to move, only to find pain searing through him in more places than he could count.

Now he remembered.

That stranger, or Tero as he'd called himself. He hadn't seemed like much of an opponent at first, but he had unbelievable power. And for no obvious reason. He was just an ordinary human.

Or perhaps he just looked like one? Waka looked like a human, yet he was just of a humanoid race. But he was pretty sure Tero was an _actual_ human. There didn't seem to be any logical explanation for his powers…

But perhaps battling against him hadn't been such a good idea.

Quite frankly, Waka considered that he was lucky to be alive. He'd been stabbed several times and was covered in scars – and not to mention he had burns on his arms and shoulder. If _he_ was a normal human he would have been killed.

It was a good thing Tero hadn't done his homework on the Moon Tribe. He'd been able to recognise one of them but he didn't know how much harder it was to kill them. That had been a lucky escape…

Suddenly he realised there was the sound of barking outside the cave. It sounded like Chibiterasu. Waka knew that Amaterasu was out there as well, so until she gave a worried bark he was unable to work out what all the commotion was about. He'd known Amaterasu for over 200 years, so he could understand her, but Chibiterasu had only been created a few months ago. Only the goddess was able to understand him, as far as he knew.

The second he heard what the message was, he gasped.

Something about Issun… and the forest…

And that man.

Then two sets of pawsteps raced away.

Waka tried to get up again, but found he couldn't. The pain was draining his energy away. Great, he couldn't help them.

"Ma chérie…" he murmured, his voice sounding loud in the silent cave. "Please be careful…"

* * *

The wind was even stronger than before as the Oina warrior headed down the slope out of Wep'keer. There hadn't been a snowstorm this bad in ages. It was far too much like the time last year when the twin demons had re-awoken…

What if that had happened again? Was that why the snowstorm was so bad?

Dammit… if that was the case, he didn't know what to do. After all, he'd almost been killed the last time he fought them. And that other wolf…

No, he wasn't going to think about that. After all, he'd helped to save them.

"Oki?"

He froze. That was the one voice he didn't want to hear right now…

Samickle.

"What are you doing here?" the falcon-masked warrior asked. "Kemu ordered you to not leave the village!"

"Oh well."

Even though Oki couldn't see his expression through the mask, he could tell that Samickle was taken aback. "Oki, go back to Wep'keer."

Oki drew his sword, slicing it through the snowflakes that flurried past. "Make me."

Samickle stepped back, obviously not wanting to get into a fight for no apparent reason. "What's wrong with you? You were told to stay in the village and now you're disobeying orders, just like last year."

"I have to protect the village. I can't do that by sitting around in front of a fire."

"Protect the village from what, a snowstorm? Oki, even you cannot be stupid enough to think you can change the weather."

"You know just as well as I do that this is what happened last year when the twin demons awoke!" Oki snapped. "For all we know there could be monsters crawling around all over the land, heading for the village. Unless you want the villagers to get attacked by them then we have to do something before they get here."

"So you're stubbornly going to try and defeat them all by yourself?"

"I'm not being stubborn. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Whether you're stubborn or not, Oki, you're being selfish!" Samickle growled, his old ordering personality starting to come back. He'd been the village chief for a short time last year whilst Kemu was recovering from an encounter with the twin demons, and occasionally he still acted like he had that authority.

"Selfish?" Oki blinked, failing to hide the confusion in his voice. "What, you worried about me stealing all the glory by killing off the demons myself? I told you, that's not why I'm doing this!"

"No, that's not why," Samickle sighed. "You're acting selfishly by trying to spare yourself the worry of anyone else getting hurt, and passing that worry over to everyone else worrying about _you_. And not to mention your wound still hasn't healed properly. If what you say is true and there really are demons spreading over Kamui, an injured warrior facing them alone won't be enough. Please, Oki, just come back to the village. If the demons attack us there we can fight them, but there's no use wasting energy or even provoking an attack by going out to find them ourselves."

There was a moment of silence. Oki glanced out over the snow-covered fields, even though it was hard to see anything. He could just imagine the demons swarming through the storm, heading for the village…

But what Samickle said made sense. And he'd never be able to fight properly; he was too out of practice, and every time he took a step the wound in his side throbbed.

"Fine," he sighed, sheathing his sword and walking back up the snowy hill. "But until we know whether the demons are heading this way or not, we should make sure everyone is prepared for an attack."

* * *

"I spy with my little eye… something beginning with L."

"Shut up, bug."

Issun felt the hand he was imprisoned in close tighter. He was starting to get crushed now. He didn't want to be crushed. But for some reason he just couldn't help trying to wind this guy up. He'd finally found someone he hated more than Waka.

After all, the prophet had never _burnt_ him…

Or maybe he was just feeling giddy because he was being held almost upside-down and the blood was starting to rush to his head.

"Nope, that's not it. Leaves."

"And if you don't shut up soon those leaves will be stained with your blood. Although, you are rather small. I doubt you even have much blood in you."

"Sheesh, what's your problem?" Issun tutted. "It wasn't my idea to be stuck out here in the forest with you. And who the heck are you anyway?"

"Tero. You'd better remember that, insect."

"I'm not an insect. I'm a Poncle."

"Same difference."

"Hey!"

Suddenly the world rushed past him as he was lifted back the right way up again, now eye-level with the stranger.

"I wonder if the goddess would even bother coming here," Tero growled, although he almost sounded curious. "After all, you're just a little bug. I don't suppose you'd be of much significance to a god. Maybe I should just crush you now."

Issun gulped, though luckily Tero wouldn't have been able to notice. After he and Ammy had just been in that argument, _would_ she even care about him anymore…?

No, don't be stupid. Ammy was probably on her way right now…

"Hah! Yeah right. Furball ain't like that. She'll be here soon and when she is you'd better start running."

"Oh? I didn't come here to fight. I simply have a message to deliver."

"Didn't come here to fight? Yeah right. You practically left that half-baked prophet for dead."

"That was his own fault for getting in the way."

"So if someone gets in your way you try and kill em? I'd hate to be in front of you in the queue at a merchant stand."

Pawsteps. Heading this way. Fast.

"I see you're not just a pest to that goddess then," Tero muttered. "That's good." He raised his voice. "Because that goddess better not even think of attacking me unless she wants the little bug to be squished!"

Amaterasu exploded into the clearing, skidding to a halt as she heard the threat and letting out a growl. Chibi arrived a moment later, hanging back slightly.

"Such a well-behaved god," Tero smirked. "So loyal to your friends."

"Well, Ammy's here now," Issun pointed out, used to having to speak for her. "Give her your message and let me go, creep!"

"Very well then, since you're in such a hurry. I'm not surprised. Oh wait, you don't know yet, do you? That was my message."

Amaterasu's eyes narrowed.

"Huh?" Issun blinked.

"While you're been lazing around here on the plains, Nippon has been sent back into peril. Can't walk a mile without getting eaten by a demon, so I hear. I thought you just might want to know."

Issun was tossed through the air and he landed on Ammy's back, her fur cushioning the fall slightly.

"Ow…" he muttered, his body starting to hurt again. Getting burnt all over was not fun.

But wait, what had that guy just said? Nippon had been taken over by demons again?

He scrambled up and jumped onto Ammy's head. "Hey, wait a-"

But Tero had vanished.

"What the heck?" Issun muttered, glancing around. Where did he go?

Ammy gave another quiet growl. Obviously she was as confused as he was. Then the sound turned into more of a whine as she lifted her head slightly, as if she were trying to look at him.

"Don't worry about me, furball," Issun sighed, patting her head. "I'm fine. Slightly toasted, but fine."

She gave a half-bark, for once being careful not to throw him off her head. That would have been painful…

But there was one thing Issun didn't understand. This Tero guy had gone to all the effort of coming here to the Celestial Plain, beating up Waka and then nearly killing Issun as well… and then he'd warned them of trouble in Nippon. So what was the need for all the violence if he was trying to help them…?

It didn't make any sense.


	7. Scout

**Why is it in my mind all the brush gods end up getting highly random personalities...?**

**First Yumigami was a GANGSTA, then Kabegami a worry-wart, and now Moegami is a klutz...**

**But Yomigami has a boring personality cuz I don't like him, so there xD**

**Look! More characters!**

**And there's gonna be even more of em in the next chapter...**

**Also check out who just got a name again. For the sake of being easier to write about. Ah, author shortcuts...**

* * *

It was ages before they finally left the forest. After that Tero guy had vanished, Ammy had spent what felt like hours wandering around the trees trying to find him. Issun had the feeling that it was because now he was no longer being held hostage the goddess was free to rip the stranger to shreds. But he seemed to have completely vanished. Eventually they'd given up.

As Amaterasu padded disdainfully along the grass, Issun was thinking about what Tero had said before he left. He still didn't understand why he'd warned them, but that didn't seem like the priority right now…

"Ammy, d'you think Nippon really has been invaded by monsters again?" he asked quietly.

She didn't reply.

"I mean, was that guy telling the truth? He was a creep so I don't know if his word is anything to go by, but…" he trailed off. He almost felt guilty. He wasn't even supposed to be on the Celestial Plain this long in the first place, so now he was here where it was safe, whereas everyone else…

On the other hand, with guys like Tero around, this place was probably just as dangerous.

Amaterasu gave a half-bark, and once more he was nearly thrown off her head. As he scrambled for a hold he winced as her fur brushed against his skin. Issun wasn't used to being hurt. Especially not burnt all over until he felt like a living piece of toast.

But he got the message. They had to find out somehow whether it was true.

Though that might be easier said than done…

"Well, there's no way anyone from Nippon is getting up here to tell us," he shrugged, leaning against her ear. "And I don't think any of us could get down there that easily to check and be able to make it back…"

Another bark that almost caused him to be flung into the air.

"Right! Maybe Moegami could go," he muttered. After all, the fire god could fly. And… well, he was a god. He'd be able to fly down to Nippon and back. "C'mon, Ammy, let's go find that giant chicken."

She gave a quiet grunt.

"Okay, okay! Phoenix." Issun rolled his eyes.

* * *

The windy plains of Taka Pass were in the shadows of dusk, the sun already set over the cliffs but the moon not yet high enough for its light to reach the grass. The air was heavy, as if there was a storm on the way,

A child walked along one of the paths, thinking to himself. Earlier that day, he'd seen Kagu. He hadn't seen her or any of his friends for ages. Ever since he left, he'd tried to stay away from people as much as possible. He didn't want anyone asking who he was. Even he didn't know who he was.

And that was the first time in months that anyone had called him Kuni.

It had been so long since he'd heard that name, even he had started to forget that was what he had been called by his parents – no, Susano and Kushi. They weren't his parents. They'd looked after him for just over nine months, and he'd called them Mum and Dad… but they weren't his real parents. And anyway, Susano had disowned him. That was why he wasn't Kuni anymore.

So then who was he…?

Then he noticed something bright flash in the corner of his eye.

"Huh?" he muttered, glancing around.

All of a sudden one of the trees nearby burst into flames and he stumbled over backwards. He grabbed his sword which had fallen to the ground and scrambled away.

"Oops, sorry!"

The boy was left staring in disbelief as some kind of giant bird flew back over, glancing at the burning tree.

"Ehe… didn't mean to do that. Still, it's probably better I caught the tree than you…" the bird flapped its wings, which also blazed with fire, causing a slight draft which put the flames of the tree out. Then it landed on the ground nearby, the sandy path luckily non-flammable. "Wow, kid, you look rough. You get lost?"

"I-I…" he didn't really know how to respond. He wasn't even sure if this was really happening. Perhaps being out here for too long was making him hallucinate. However, the bird was white with red wings and had crimson markings on its body, which seemed strangely familiar.

_Mutt…_

"Oh, you must be cold," the bird deducted, misreading the boy's reactions. "I could create a fire for ya if you want. Not promising I wouldn't accidentally cause a forest fire, but hey." It's voice lowered to a mutter as it glanced at the ground. "Oh wait, since neither Nuregami nor Kazegami are here I probably shouldn't do that… hmm…"

"Erm… who are you…?"

"What? Oh, right. Wait… you might be a demon… can kids be demons?"

The boy blinked. "I… don't _think_ I'm a demon… I don't really know who I am…"

"Ya don't know who you are? What, you hit your head or something?"

"It's a long story." Wait. Why was he talking to a bird that appeared to be spontaneously combusting?

"You'd better get home, it's gonna rain soon by the looks of things. I don't know about you but I can't stand rain."

"I don't have a home. I was heading for Agata."

"No home? Wow, you're one crazy kid. Got a name?"

"Not anymore. Anyway, you still haven't told me who you are…"

"Me? I'm Moegami. But you must go by _something_, right? Or are you just… Nameless?"

"I'm just nameless I guess," he shrugged. There was a Nameless Man who lived in Shinshu. Maybe he could be Nameless Boy?

"Wow, some upbringing you had, you don't even have a name."

"Th-they did give me a name… but I left and I don't use it anymore…"

Moegami's beak dropped open. "You're kidding me, you don't even use your own name anymore? Hate to see how they call you on a register. Must have been a pretty bad name if ya don't wanna use it."

"No, that's not it…"

"Well, what was your name?"

"My name?" he blinked. Why did this bird want to know? "Well… I _was_ Kuni…"

"Kuni? That doesn't sound like a bad name," Moegami tipped his head to one side like a pigeon. "It was your name before so it might as well be your name now, right? It'd be a waste of a name to just throw it away."

"Maybe," he sighed. It was too complicated.

"Anyways, I got a job to do," the bird flapped his wings and hovered in the air for a second. "See ya, Kuni!"

Then he was gone.

The boy was left wondering if that had really just happened. Rain clouds were beginning to form in the sky, and a few moments later a drop of water splashed onto the ground nearby. He'd better get a move on before he got soaked.

Hurrying towards the forest, he thought about what that bird had said. _It was your name before so it might as well be your name now, right?_

As far as he was concerned, he had no name. But maybe he should have one. And besides, even though Susano had told him he was no longer Kuni, what did that mean? Susano had no right to tell him what he could or couldn't call himself.

_Right. I don't care what Susano thinks. It's not like I'll be seeing him again anyways._

_Until I find out who I really am, I'm still Kuni._

His spirits higher than they had been in months, he raced past the remainders of rocks that had been cleared after the rockslide that had blocked this path before, heading for Agata.

Little did he know what awaited him there.

* * *

Issun hopped from rock to rock impatiently, every now and then glancing down over the seemingly endless cliffs below. This was the edge of the Celestial Plain. If he made one wrong move he might end up falling a few thousand feet down to certain death. The thought made him even more nervous.

Chibi was sat a few metres away, in no danger of falling and looking half asleep. Issun didn't know exactly where Ammy was but he assumed she was off checking on Waka. Apparently the prophet had finally woken up. Shame. Issun preferred him unconscious, when he couldn't annoy him by… well, being Waka.

"Sheesh, how long does it take to fly to Nippon and back?" Issun tutted irritably. "Don't answer that."

The wolf puppy just yawned. Obviously he wasn't as bothered as Issun was.

He hoped Tero had just been making things up to make them paranoid. If that was the case, mission accomplished. Issun glanced over the edge of the cliffs once more. When was Moegami going to get back?

"You shouldn't keep going over to the edge of the cliffs, Issun, it's dangerous."

He flinched, nearly losing his balance in surprise. Then he turned around. "Yomigami, if you creep up on me then it _will_ be dangerous."

"Sorry." The massive dragon loomed over him as he backed away from the drop, and dropped something that fell lightly to the ground in front of the poncle.

Issun hopped over to see what it was. A leaf with something slimy but sweet-smelling on it. "What's this?"

"Honey," Yomigami said simply. "Amaterasu said you'd been burnt, but you're far too small for me to treat your injuries. Just rub this on the burns and it should clear them up."

"Oh… okay," Issun grimaced, thinking how much he'd rather eat honey than be covered in it.

All of a sudden there was a flash from somewhere behind him. He glanced around and looked to the clouds below.

"Looks like Moe is back," Yomigami said plainly. "Let's hope he just scouted Nippon and didn't set fire to it."

The phoenix blazed through the air, soaring high above them before spiralling down to the earth and landing somewhat awkwardly on the rocks.

"Well?" Issun demanded the second the bird landed.

Somewhat out of breath, Moegami shook his head. "It's true. There are demons absolutely everywhere. And flying all the way back up here was tiring…"

"So it's true then? That guy wasn't pulling one over on us?"

The bird shook his head again.

Not wasting another moment, Issun raced away.

"Issun!" Yomigami called.

"The honey can wait!" he snapped. "The fate of the world is more important than a bunch of blisters!"

* * *

Agata Forest was a maze of shadows, though anyone who knew the place well would never get lost. Kuni meandered around the trees, avoiding any stray thorny tendrils that lay across his route even though the floor was almost completely dark. This was one of the places he'd been staying whilst on his adventure, where there was shelter from the canopy above. The forest itself was quite small; nearby the foliage opened up into a lake, where a few leafless trees towered above the water on islands.

Reaching up as high as he could, Kuni plucked an apple from one of the trees. It was too dark to try catching anything – and he wasn't all that good at it anyways. Whenever he got really hungry he'd visit the merchants while there weren't that many people around. It was surprising how much dropped yen you could find lying around on the ground… and when he didn't have enough for food, they usually let him have it for a discount. Living rough did have its advantages sometimes.

"Yaargh! Get off me you stupid…!"

"Huh?" Kuni glanced around as he heard a shout. That voice sounded somewhat familiar…

Still, it sounded like someone was in trouble. He had to go see what it was all about. Glancing at his apple and sighing, he hid the fruit among the grass and wandered over to the edge of the trees to try and see what was going on.

Peering out into the moonlit clearing, he saw that there was a bunch of imps hopping about nearby. A green imp seemed to be dragging something along the ground. At first Kuni thought it was a fish. Then it looked like a girl. Then it looked like…

_Mermaid! That's Nanami!_

"Let me go, stupid imp!" Nanami shouted, flailing her arms in the sand as the imp dragged her along by the tail. They must have pulled her out of the water.

Darn it… Kuni wasn't really sure whether he wanted to meet up with another of his friends from ages ago, but he couldn't leave Nanami to get mauled by imps. He grabbed the wooden sword on his back.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

The imps immediately glanced around as Kuni raced across the sand. The one that had been dragging the mermaid along let go of her and she flopped uselessly to the sand, unable to walk since she didn't have legs.

"What the- Kuni?" she gasped, glancing around.

As he swung his sword at one of the imps it let out a shriek and hopped away into the forest. He didn't have to beat them all, just chase them off… and besides, imps were easy to scare. This should be a piece of cake.

He jumped out of the way as one of the red imps aimed a swing at him, and he acted like he was going to slice it in half with a counter-attack. At that threat, this imp also bounded away after the other one. The final green imp glanced from Kuni to Nanami and back again, then decided against trying to attack and raced away into the darkness.

"Wow." Nanami scrambled up into somewhat of a sitting position. "Geez, I haven't seen you in ages and here you are saving me from a bunch of imps! Not sure how to repay you so I'll have to just say thanks."

"Welcome," Kuni shrugged, glancing awkwardly at the ground.

Nanami looked like she was about to say something else when suddenly another imp-like shriek echoed from nearby. Kuni glanced around in shock.

Emerging from the shadows of the forest were some more imps, as if the other ones had called for re-enforcements. Why were there imps here? Kuni hadn't seen a single monster before today, not since Mutt had defeated Akuro.

At first he thought there wasn't that many of them, but more kept emerging from the shadows. There were fifteen at least. Green, red, yellow, blue, black… they sure came in a lot of colours.

"Oh heck," Nanami muttered. "What now?"

"Try and get back to the water," Kuni told her. He was trembling but he tried not to let it show. "I'll… hold them off."

"What? Don't be stupid, I'm not leaving you out here with all these imps! You'll get ripped to shreds!"

_Please don't remind me…_ "Well, what do _you_ suppose we do then?"

"I don't know! If only Squiddy was here… he'd know what to do…"

"Well, Mutt isn't here," Kuni sighed. "So it looks like we're on our own then."


	8. Forest Fight

**OK. So. Next chapter.**

**Yay?**

**I have not much to say, other than KARUDE YOU ARE FINALLY OF SOME USE.**

* * *

Issun met Ammy on his way back towards the caves. She'd come racing out of the forest as soon as he passed.

"What were you doing in there, furball?" he asked as he jumped up onto her head. "Still looking for that Tero guy?"

Amaterasu nodded, a growl rising in her throat.

"Well, we can't worry about him now. We got more urgent matters to deal with. Turns out that guy was telling the truth and Nippon's now knee-deep in demons."

She tried to glance up at him in shock. He just about managed to keep his balance for once. The goddess gave a snarl and flicked her tail, a bunch of weeds nearby getting sliced in half by a power slash.

"Whoa, Ammy! Don't get mad about it. It's just like before. All we gotta do is go kick their butts and voila, no more demons. Though getting there might be a problem." Issun would have been able to go there in that little ship thing Gen had made for him, which was how he had got to the Celestial Plain, but Amaterasu would be too big to fit in it…

The wolf barked, pricking her ears. She'd had an idea.

Issun understood the message but decided to ignore it. No way. He jumped down onto the grass and looked up at her. "Well, I guess I could always take Chibi with me. I mean, he did defeat Akuro a few months back, right?" Though after the way that puppy had been acting recently…

Amaterasu barked again, shaking her head. Her eyes narrowed.

Issun hesitated for a moment, taking in a deep breath and letting it out again in a long sigh. "Okay, fine, furball." He knew he must have upset her earlier, and he didn't want to make her mad again. "We'll ask the prophet. But don't you even for one millisecond imply that this was my idea!"

Her tail wagging slightly, Amaterasu waited for him to hop back up onto her head before racing away in the direction of the caves, drawing the sun in the sky as she ran.

* * *

The sun was not shining in Agata Forest. Shadows seemed to loom everywhere from the undergrowth that was scattered around the moonlit clearing.

Kuni wasn't really sure what to do. He could run, but then he'd have to leave Nanami with the imps. Or he could try and get her back into the water, but then he'd probably end up getting mauled by demons.

The only other option was to try and fight and hope neither of them got killed.

But there were so many imps…

No, there was no time to be scared now. If he let fear overcome him then both of them would die.

"Kuni!" Nanami cried. "Don't be stupid! We can't fight off all of these imps!"

"Would you rather get eaten?" Kuni snapped. He'd fought off three imps by himself earlier. It was only about five times that many now… he _might_ be able to do it…

_Who am I kidding? I can't do this by myself!_

The imps were bounding towards them now.

Suddenly there was a flurry of barking from somewhere nearby. Kuni glanced around in surprised.

_Mutt…?_

_No, it couldn't be_…

He just stared blankly as a red dog raced over, snarling fiercely at the imps. An orange scarf was tied around its neck. It was Ume.

_Hah… of course it isn't Mutt… what was I thinking._

"Kuni! Stop staring into space!" Nanami shouted.

Snapping back to reality, Kuni realised that the imps were still racing towards them – though now that they had a snarling dog to contend with as well they were looking more hesitant.

The first imp ran headlong into Ume, receiving a bunch of bites and scratches for its efforts, causing it to let out a shriek and bound away. Two more imps hopped past the Shiba and headed towards Kuni and Nanami. The mermaid tried to back away without much luck.

Kuni sliced through one of the imps, causing black blood to splash onto the sand as the imp fell, bursting into flowers as it hit the ground. He turned to try and hit the other one but it seemed to have vanished.

"Huh?" he blinked, glancing around.

"Whoa… oh hey… I caught it!"

Not far away the imp was hovering in the air, and it took a moment for Kuni to realise it was caught on a fishing line that someone was holding. Someone with a rabbit for a hat.

_Kokari_!

The boy tried to cast the imp back towards the others. The momentum caused the hook to come loose and the imp was released, slamming into a bunch of its friends and causing a small imp pile-up.

Feeling more confident now that there were more people helping them, Kuni raced towards the pack of imps, slicing through any that got in his way. A few of the imps had turned on Kokari, who was trying to fend them off with a fishing pole – which seemed to be working somewhat – and Nanami was trying to trip any imps that came towards her.

An imp that jumped into the air towards him was suddenly thrown back as an arrow went straight through it. Kuni took a second to glance back, seeing Karude hurrying towards the chaos. Suddenly the imps were starting to look nervous, some even hopping away in fear.

"Wait!" Nanami raised her voice to be heard above all the imp screeches. "I've got an idea!"

"What?" Kokari shouted, knocking an imp into the lake by accident as he span around.

"See if you can get all the imps into a group! Then just leave the rest to me."

"Um… okay?" Kuni said uncertainly, not entirely sure where this was heading. But Nanami was his friend, so he trusted that she knew what she was doing…

Ume raced around trying to herd up the imps like a flock of sheep. Any that didn't co-operate were quickly the target of Karude's arrows – the hunter was clearly experienced in hitting targets. As they finally managed to get the imps all together the ground spread out, making sure none of them escaped.

"Now what?" Kuni asked, glancing over at the mermaid.

Nanami had managed to drag herself across the sand, and she splashed back into the water. She held a pebble in her hands.

"Okay, now everyone stay back!"

Keeping an eye on the imps, everyone backed away. Kuni couldn't help but noticing the others looked unsure. What was Nanami's plan?

All of a sudden a large tunnel of water rose up from the lake, arching into the night sky before heading back down to the earth again.

"Whoa!" Kokari cried.

Then the water came crashing down on the imps, the force of it crushing them. As the liquid cleared and started to soak into the ground, a crowd of flowers flashed briefly across the clearing before vanishing.

For a moment no one said a word.

"… Wow…" Kuni gaped. "That was… well…"

"Awesome!" Kokari cheered.

"Yeah, what he said."

"Oh, it was nothing really," Nanami said modestly, swiping one hand through the surface of the water and causing the reflection of the moon to ripple. "Just something Otohime taught me…"

"Well, the imps are gone," Karude concluded. "But why were they here in the first place? There haven't been any imps here in months."

"I don't know," Kuni shrugged. "But they aren't just here. They're in the city too. And I don't know how many more there are."

As if in answer, an imp shriek sounded from somewhere deeper in the forest.

"Nanami, you should go," Kuni told her. "It's not safe here."

"Me?" the mermaid blinked. "It's a lot safer in the water than it will be on land. I think you humans are the ones who should be getting someplace safe."

"Well, I'm sure I'll find somewhere."

"Don't you have a home?" Karude asked in surprise. "I thought you were from Kamiki? It's not that far off…"

"I used to live in Kamiki. I don't anymore."

"Well, you could always come stay with us," Kokari shrugged. "We have a fire so it's not as cold as out here."

For a moment Kuni was about to decline. He didn't really like being around other people, especially since they usually started asking him about who he was, why he didn't have a proper home… but it would be nice to spend the night by a fire, somewhere warm, and with food…

"O-Okay," he nodded after a few moments. "Thanks."

* * *

"Oh, well look who's still alive."

Issun knew Ammy would probably get mad at him again if he started an argument, but he just couldn't resist.

"My, is that how you greet everyone?" Waka rolled his eyes. The prophet was sat back against the wall of the cave, and he was covered in so many bandages that Issun couldn't even count them. Not to mention that his hair was a mess.

"You look like a mummy," Issun commented, noting the fact that Waka didn't even have his shirt on because he was so covered in bandages. He hadn't actually noticed at first because most of them were stained with blood.

"I hear you nearly got cooked today, my little bouncing friend."

"None of your business, fruitcake! You can have even more scars if you want!" he drew his sword.

Ammy shook her head and he fell off, landing on the ground where she half-crushed him under one paw.

"Ow! Furball, get off!" The ground was dusty and it made the exposed burnt skin of his arms sting. Issun regretted not using the honey Yomigami had given him…

"So, Issun, did you need something? I can't imagine you came here to check if I was okay."

"Quite the opposite," Issun grumbled. "I'll tell you when a certain wolf quits standing on me!"

As if she'd only just realised she was still holding him down, Amaterasu quickly lifted her paw. Issun scrambled back to his feet, giving her an irritated glare that he knew she wouldn't be able to see.

"Long story short, something happened in Nippon and now there's demons marching around like they own the place, and Ammy wouldn't be able to fit in that contraption Gen made and so she thought you'd know how to get to Nippon." He paused to take a breath. "So do you or not?"

Waka was silent for a moment, as if he was taking in all that Issun had said. As always his expression was too hard to read. "Oui, I guess we could use the ark to travel to Nippon."

"_We_?" Issun blinked. "Who said _you_ were going?"

"Only someone from the Moon Tribe can control the ark."

"Oh. Well, yeah. I knew that." Issun turned away pointedly. "Well then, as much as it pains me to say this, you better darn recover quickly so we can get to Nippon A.S.A.P.!"

He turned and hurried out of the cave. Since they were probably going to be stuck here for a while, he might as well go and find that honey… he might as well heal before they headed for Nippon as well.


	9. The Plan

**I have no lessons this morning so I just sat and finished this chapter xD**

**And hooraaaay Ninetails is finally here.**

**Had a nice long self-debate as to whether to call him Ninetails or Kyuubi... but then decided Ninetails is the English name and everything else is based on the English vers. so better leave it as Nine.**

**Oh hey, looks like in the next chapter we'll be going to Kamiki.**

**Yaaaay.**

* * *

Waka let out a long sigh and threw a stray pebble into the river. He'd spent the past half-hour trying to wash the dried blood out of his hair, and he'd finally almost succeeded. It was an especially hard task since he had to try and avoid getting any of the bandages wet… and there were a lot of them.

He was still trying to figure out what Tero had to do with any of this. It had been hard to tell what had happened to Issun since the poncle refused to tell him anything, but from the bits and pieces of information he was picking up from Amaterasu and the other gods it seemed like Tero had been the one who actually warned them about all the demons in Nippon… and they'd sent Moegami to clarify that.

Yet Waka knew that Tero was far from trying to help them. The way he'd spoken about Amaterasu…

And if you're trying to help someone, the logical thing to do would not be to beat them half to death.

True, Waka had fought against Amaterasu when she'd first been reincarnated, but he wanted to make sure she was strong enough. He didn't really want to hurt her, and he'd been careful not to inflict any serious injuries… but Tero was definitely not holding back. He'd given Waka so many wounds that he'd actually lost consciousness from the pain and blood loss.

And what if he was still on the Celestial Plain? As a matter of fact, how had he even got here?

Footsteps.

Somewhere behind him…

Waka jolted around in surprise – maybe too fast. He ended up getting a stabbing pain in his side from one of the unhealed wounds.

Yet there was nothing to worry about. It was only a wolf puppy. Not a shady man in a coat. Thank the gods…

"Oh, Chibi," he sighed in somewhat relief, though he didn't want to let on that for a moment he'd actually been afraid. _Stop being such an idiot._ "Bonjour. Were you looking for Amaterasu?"

The young god just stared at him, his pupils constricted, as if he was scared of the prophet.

"Chibi?" Waka blinked. What was wrong with him?

All of a sudden Chibi shook his head and stepped back, his eyes returning to normal. He glanced at Waka once more and gave a half-bark, then raced off.

The prophet was left watching in confusion as the puppy disappeared into the grass.

* * *

"_What are you waiting for? Do this one last thing… for your partner…!"_

_No… no no no… I can't…! Kurow, I can't…!_

"Chibi?"

Chibi gasped as he snapped back to reality to see Waka sat in front of him, looking confused. The puppy shook his head to try and clear it and gave a half bark before turning and running away across the grass.

It had been a few days since they'd last seen Tero, but still Chibi couldn't even look at Waka without being reminded of Kurow…

When he'd been attacked, it had been like seeing his friend dying all over again.

He had to stop being such a wimp. He was a god. Kurow wasn't going to come back, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Although that thought only made him feel even worse…

No. He was the son of Amaterasu. He needed to help save Nippon. And that meant he had to stop getting upset over something he couldn't change. No use crying over spilt milk.

Besides, Kurow wouldn't want him to just mope around whilst all the people of Nippon were in danger.

_C'mon, dude! There's people in trouble down there. Just be cool and go help them, okay boy?_

He could just imagine what he'd say.

Well, it looked like there was going to be another adventure ahead, and maybe he'd even see some of his old friends. No time to sit around sulking about the past; he needed to look towards the future.

_That's the spirit, dude!_

Chibi smiled, bounding away across the hills. He needed to find some way of practicing his powers before they headed down to Nippon.

* * *

"Kokari?"

"Yeah, Dad?" the forest boy walked over to his father, Ume in tow. Kuni was still asleep in the house even though the sun was high in the sky, so he probably hadn't had a good night's rest in a while. He must really have had a hard time…

"You haven't seen any demons around, have you? Other than the ones that were here last night?" Karude asked, sounding serious.

"Um… no," Kokari replied, confused.

"Hmm," Karude looked thoughtful for a moment. "Kokari, I'd like you to go to Kamiki. We need to know if there are demons anywhere else as well or if that was just a one-off."

"Oh… okay!" Kokari smiled. His father didn't usually send him on errands ever since he'd started growing up and becoming more independent, but he understood why he was asking him to do this.

"Take Ume with you," Karude added. "It's too dangerous to go on your own."

"Yes, Dad," Kokari said absently, not bothering to point out that Ume went just about everywhere with him anyways. He turned to the dog. "C'mon, Ume, let's go. We've got a mission!"

* * *

Darkness loomed all around. It was the sort of thing that would usually be to the likening of a demon. Almost pitch blackness, no sunlight at all. The no sunlight was a good part, at least.

In fact, Yami would have liked this place if it hadn't been for the circumstances.

He was almost starting to get airsick, the glass orb he had to stay in being shaken from left to right as it balanced precariously on a bunch of Ninetails' tails. The fox had to carry him around everywhere until his demons could finish rebuilding his mechanical armour.

"You should be grateful that I brought your pet back," Tero said plainly as he led the two of them down the dark tunnel. "Rolling everywhere must be so inefficient."

Yami's eyes narrowed. It was frustrating that he couldn't reply.

"Don't talk to my master like that," Ninetails growled. He was easily twice as tall as the man, although Tero didn't seem worried.

"I can talk about your fish however I like, fleabag," Tero snapped. "Just be glad you're actually of some use to me, or I would have killed the both of you long ago."

The orb rocked from side to side as Ninetails flinched, and Yami shook his fins madly as he tried to stop it from rolling off. He could tell the fox was afraid of Tero, even though he shouldn't have posed as much of a threat. After all, he was a _human_. And not to mention the darkness should have meant he wouldn't be able to see. Yami and Ninetails could easily see in the dark – they were demons, after all.

Perhaps they should just try and kill Tero whilst they had the advantage…

But no, that probably wouldn't go well. Human or not, Tero could obviously see where he was going. The floor of the tunnel was littered with pebbles and rocks, yet the man didn't stumble even once. Yami remembered grudgingly the feel of being boiled alive…

_Don't worry, master. I won't let him do that again._

Yami blinked and narrowed his eyes even more. _I'm not worried, you idiot. As soon as I have my armour back this guy is as good as dead. Just keep your trap shut and make sure you don't give anything away._

_Okay, master…_

No matter how much power he had, Tero still wasn't able to communicate with Yami like Ninetails could. The foetus still had the advantage that someone else could understand him, and Tero couldn't.

But until they had a chance to get rid of the strange man once and for all, it looked like they were just going to have to obey him.

Eventually the tunnel opened out into a clearing, washed with moonlight. Yami had known about this place but never actually been here, for it had been the lair of another powerful demon – though not quite as powerful as him.

The Moon Cave.

"I wonder if an eight-headed snake would be of any use," Tero muttered.

Yami shook his head even though the man wasn't looking at him. Orochi had been his minion until he'd tried to overtake him as the demon lord. Then when he'd been beaten by Amaterasu he'd only come running back to him again. Yami had thought being beaten by Amaterasu was foolish, but to be beaten _three_ times?

_Well, you'd better tell him all of that. It's not like I can._

"Orochi was beaten by Amaterasu three times," Ninetails spoke up, repeating Yami's thoughts out loud. "He's probably too weak."

"I don't recall giving you permission to voice your opinion," Tero growled. "But that's what I heard too. Besides, it would be a waste of my energy to recover that serpent if all he'll be is a distraction. Bringing this place back was hard enough. Since that Orochi or whatever his name was won't need it, I might as well take this place."

_Freeloader._ Yami wouldn't have minded taking this place for himself. It was hard trying to find somewhere to hide where he could command his demons and still stay out of detection of any humans.

"Now then," Tero wandered into the centre of the clearing where Orochi's seal had once stood and turned to face them. "You have been sending your demons out over Nippon, I see. That's phase one of the plan in order. Now onto phase two."

Yami shook one fin and Ninetails obediently placed the orb on the ground. Much better.

"I've been to the Celestial Plain so that darn wolf knows about the state of this country. She'll probably get here somehow to try and save everyone like the pathetic god she is. All you lot have to do is get their attention and they'll soon come out to try and destroy you. Whether they succeed or not is of no interest to me."

_Master, I don't want to fight that god again…_

_Just shut up and listen to him. _Yami liked it when people spoke badly of Amaterasu.

"You can kill as many people as you like, or even fight that goddess if you want. Just don't kill her. She's needed for the plan."

Ninetails tipped his head to one side, obviously confused. Yami flicked his tail slightly in irritation. He wanted to kill Amaterasu. How could anyone _not_ want to?

"Oh don't worry, she _will _be killed. But that's for me to do, not useless demons like you. I just need you to lure her out into the open so that we can catch her."

"Th-that might be hard…" Ninetails added nervously.

"Hard for you, perhaps," Tero smirked. "But not when you have a plan that's guaranteed to work."


	10. Once A Home

**One of these days, I might actually upload a chapter of reasonable length...**

**I have a feeling I'm killing Kokari's personality. Then again, he does act like a child in most scenes... until he starts to grow up... and stuff...**

**Also, is it just me, or isn't Kushi supposed to be something like 3 months pregnant...?**

**I mean, as of the end of Okamiden... but since this is only a few months later I think we'll be ok xD (Apparrently it doesn't actually become visible until like 5-6 months rofl)**

**I have not much else to say except...**

**Time for a game of Spot The Unintentional Titledrop.**

* * *

"Okay, so you know the plan, right?"

Blink.

"Well, we put it into action now, okay? Target at ten o'clock. "

They both looked in the direction they were aiming for.

"Move quietly and don't let her see you. Try and get all ten of them this time, okay? Ready…"

Step forward.

"Aim…"

Ears alert.

"Fire!"

As soon as he said the last word, Hayabusa raised his head, ears twitching. Then he raced away, barking.

"I said _quietly_!" Mushi hissed, watching as his dog ran right past the turnip field they'd been aiming for and headed for the bridge over the river instead. The boy sighed, wandering out from the rock they'd been hiding behind. "At this rate we'll never match Amaterasu's record…"

He hurried along the path in pursuit of his dog, towing a bug on a string behind him. The woman standing in the field glanced up as he ran by.

"Mushi, you'd better not be trying to dig up the turnips again!"

"Sure, Mama, whatever!" he called, rolling his eyes. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt…

As Mushi crossed the bridge he could hear more barking. Was there another dog here? Maybe that was why Hayabusa had run off.

"Hey, Mushi!"

"Huh? Oh, Kokari!" he called, noticing his friend entering the village. Kokari's dog Ume had run over to Hayabusa, and the two of them were running around barking. "I haven't seen you in _ages_! And…" he glanced at the pole he was carrying. "Why do you have a fishing rod…?"

"Ah… self-defence," Kokari said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Self-defence…? In Kamiki?"

"Well… there were a bunch of imps in the forest last night. My dad sent me here… to find out if there were any demons here as well."

"I haven't seen any," Mushi shrugged. He grinned. "Well, other than Mama, anyway."

"What is this I hear about demons?"

The two boys jumped as a low voice boomed from somewhere nearby, and Mushi glanced around to see Susano striding towards them from his house.

"There were imps in the forest last night," Mushi spoke up with a shrug.

"Hm? Imps?" Susano muttered. "I haven't seen any imps in months."

"W-well, there were some there… so…" Kokari mumbled, obviously slightly intimidated by the middle-aged warrior. He could be quite intimidating when you weren't used to seeing him nearly every day.

"If you're having trouble with imps, the great Susano could always help you out!" Susano boomed, taking his sword from his back and holding up in the air dramatically. A little too dramatically. "After all, I did slay Orochi. A few imps would be no trouble."

"Erm… ah… well… no… its okay… we're fine, thanks," Kokari told him nervously, taking a few steps back.

"Don't be scared of Susano," Mushi rolled his eyes. "He isn't that scary. Apart from when he's had too much to drink."

"What? I… ahem… for your information," Susano added, clearing his throat. "I haven't had any sake for a while now."

"If you say so."

"No no, that's not it," Kokari muttered, glancing at the floor.

"Oh well, if you need any help later, I don't mind!" Susano shrugged, marching back off towards his house.

"So long as you don't mind waiting a few years for him to turn up," Mushi said quietly, nudging Kokari with his elbow.

"Yeah," Kokari sighed, still glancing at the ground. After a moment he looked up, as if checking the man was out of earshot. "Susano… he was Kuni's father, wasn't he? He looks just like him."

"Kuni? Yeah, I think so. But Kuni vanished ages ago, no one's seen him in months."

"Hmm," Kokari mumbled. He looked thoughtful. "You know that woman who works in the rice fields… Kushi? Um, I wanna go talk to her… about something…"

"Huh? Um, whatever, I guess," Mushi shrugged. Why did Kokari want to talk to Kushi? Ah well, it was none of his business. "You know where the mill is."

"Yeah," Kokari nodded. "Ume, come on. Let's go."

The red dog glanced around as he heard his name and came running over, following his master as he walked over the bridge. Hayabusa scrambled over to Mushi.

"Okay, Hayabusa, back to work. We're going to break that record if it's the last thing we do!"

* * *

The giant metal ark loomed ahead, casting a massive shadow across the grass, the blades closest to it starting to turn yellow. Faint blue lines snaked across the grey, showing that power still veined throughout the boat even though it had been resting on the outskirts of the Celestial Plain for over a year.

Issun had never liked the ark. Not when he'd first heard about it, not when he'd seen it floating above Laochi Lake, and not now. It was just so… _evil_. He'd stayed away from this place ever since he arrived on the Celestial Plain.

"Well, we're here," he muttered. "Now how do we get in?"

"Simple," Waka shrugged. The prophet walked towards the ark, and as soon as he got close to it the door opened, the rainbow-coloured path appearing from the edge of it and stretching out until it reached the wilting grass.

"Freak," Issun mumbled as Waka smiled in that way that always made the poncle think he was up to something. He probably just did it to annoy him. "C'mon, Ammy. Mush!"

The goddess gave an irritated grunt before racing up the path at top speed, Chibi following as fast as he could.

As Amaterasu halted outside of the ark, Issun jumped down onto the metal platform. He couldn't help but remember the last time he'd been here… staring gloomily at the darkness beyond, he wondered if he'd be able to pass through the entrance this time.

A few moments later, Waka landed on the platform, the wings of his hat folding behind him and the draft nearly blowing Issun away.

"What's the matter, Issun? Afraid of the dark?"

"Wha- no! Don't be stupid!" Issun snapped. "But there might be a barrier again."

"Jamais peur, there isn't. I removed it."

"You re- hey, wait a second!" the poncle cried. "You mean you can actually do that?" He started to bounce around angrily, his green glow turning red. "You could have removed the barrier and let me into the stupid ark last year instead of leaving Ammy to face those darn demons alone with a creep like you!"

"Excusez-moi, but if I hadn't kept you out then you'd never have become a Celestial Envoy, and Amaterasu would never have been able to defeat Yami."

"But… you… argh!" Issun angrily hopped back onto Ammy's head. "Piss off, fruitcake."

"Language," Waka tutted. "Anyway, once we get inside we have to find the controls."

"The what now?"

"The controls for the ark. They're around somewhere inside. It looks a bit like that ship you and Chibi came here in, Issun."

"Yeah, yeah, we have to look for a spaceship, got it," Issun grumbled. "Let's split up because I don't want you anywhere near me. Let's go, Ammy."

The goddess glanced briefly at Waka and Chibi before stepping into the darkness.

"Oh, and also," Waka added as an afterthought. "You'd better watch out for any demons as well."

* * *

"Hello?" Kokari glanced through the open door of the mill. He had to shout just to hear his own voice over the noise of the waterwheel rattling from the back room.

And yet still there was no response. He couldn't shout loud enough to be heard above the wheel…

Then Ume stepped inside and started barking.

"Ume!" Kokari gasped.

"Huh? Is someone there?"

He glanced up as a young woman looked around the doorframe of the room the wheel was in. Her black hair was put up into a comb shape, meaning Kokari recognised Kushi immediately.

She hurried over to the door and stepped outside. "I'm sorry, Kokari, I didn't hear you arrive. The waterwheel's been getting very loud nowadays." She smiled sweetly. "Anyway, did you need something or did you just come here to visit Kamiki?"

"Erm, my dad sent me here… there were some imps in the forest last night and he wanted me to ask if anyone had seen any demons here either, but Mushi and Susano said they haven't, so…"

"Well, I hope you'll be okay then, if there are demons in the forest." Kushi tipped her head to one side. "So what did you need me for?"

"Well… um…" Kokari stuttered. He'd known what he wanted to tell her, but now he was wondering if it was still such a good idea…

Ume gave a quiet bark and nudged his hand. Well, if Ume thought he should tell her…

"You… I mean… Kuni's your son, isn't he?"

Something flashed in the maiden's eyes for a second. "Yes, he was… kind of. He was my adopted son. He left on his own journey to try and find out who he was."

"Who he was?" Kokari echoed, confused. "But he sounded like he'd been kicked out…"

"Hm? You mean you've seen him?"

"Yeah, he stayed at our house last night… he was there when we got attacked by imps."

"Is he okay?"

"I think so, but he looks like he's been living outside for a while. If… if you wanted to go see him, I don't think dad would mind…"

Kushi was silent for a moment. Then she shook her head. "As much as I'd love to see him again, he probably wants to stay away from us since he hasn't returned to Kamiki yet… but when you go back, if you get the chance, could you please tell him that he's welcome to come back here?"

"Okay," Kokari nodded.

"Especially if there are demons around now," Kushi sighed. "I hate to think of him out on his own when the world is so dangerous."


	11. The Journey Continues

**I wish I could write longer chapters /sulksincorner**

**We have a new character: the malnourished imp.**

**Even though it only lasted a few paragraphs.**

**DO NOT PITY THE IMP. OR IT WILL EAT YOU.**

**Also, it's been something like five chapters since we were last in Kamui... Oki where have you been all this time?**

**And now we know one of the many reasons I love Waka; his amazing ability to annoy Issun. And how incredibly fun that is to write.**

**Oh look, the Ark of Yamato/Tomatoes has suddenly been made into a maze. Well we all know every inside place in Okami is the TARDIS right?**

**Hooray for the power of using OST for chapter titles!**

* * *

"Darn Waka," Issun grumbled as he fought to see and balance in the dark as Amaterasu walked along the paths inside the ark. "Why does he have to be such a creep?"

Amaterasu just replied with a huff. She was clearly getting used to Issun's moaning by now.

"I mean, not only does he have to be really annoying, but now he's taking us to Nippon in a freaky old boat which could still have demons in it. If I get eaten by anything on the way there you'd better at least bite him or something, ok Ammy?"

She rolled her eyes.

_Bah. _It was at times like this when Issun really wished there was someone else who hated the half-baked prophet as much as he did. Then someone might actually listen to his complaining.

"So, we have to find some little UFO thing on this giant ship," Issun muttered. "Nothing's ever easy, is it? I bet Waka's just going to sit around and let us do all the work."

No reply this time.

Issun let out a long sigh. "Okay, furball. I get the message. I'll shut up now."

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the ark, contrary to Issun's suspicious, Waka was actually helping with the search – though he had to admit, he had just as little clue of his way around the ark as the others did. He'd only been in the ark three times before – when he'd fled from the moon, when he'd tried to save the celestials, and when he and Amaterasu had returned to the Celestial Plain. The place was too big to be able to find your way around unless you practically lived in it.

Which, hopefully, nothing did…

He drew his sword just in case. At least it provided some extra light.

Wandering along the paths marked with a dull blue glow, Waka tried to remember where he'd left the controls. It had been a year since he was last in here and he hadn't been near the place since. When you'd lived for two hundred years it was sometimes hard to recall little things like that…

He passed through one of the ark's many doorways, glancing around at the darkness. Shadows created by his beam sword flickered around the room. Even the glowing patterns on the walls couldn't light this room.

All of a sudden there was a loud screech.

Waka jumped back as an imp lunged at him, missing. It was a surprise imps could see in the first place, what with the silly masks they wore.

But why was this one attacking him? It must have been a pretty stupid imp to try and attack someone who had a sword…

Then in the dim green light he noticed how skinny the imp looked. It must have been trapped inside this ark for over two hundred years now. It was probably desperate for something – or someone – to eat.

Well, at least it would be easy to deal with.

As the imp tried to lunge at him again he sliced it in half mid-air. It flopped to the ground in two pieces, bursting into a flower as it disintegrated.

The short burst of light filled the room. No other doorways apart from the one behind him; this was a dead end.

_Guess it isn't this way then. Trés bien. _He turned and headed back the way he came, hoping there weren't any other demons in here. Malnourished imps were even more creepy-looking than normal ones.

* * *

"Oki?"

The snowstorm was still raging around him where the Oina warrior was sat, on the bridge above the small waterfall in the village. The water was frozen once again in the cold – and it took a lot for running water to freeze. He glanced around as he heard someone say his name to see Kai standing in the snow nearby.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, pushing her mask up over her head. "You'll catch a cold."

"Seriously?" Oki exclaimed, just about managing to keep in a laugh. "Kai, you've forgotten who it is you're speaking to here."

"Just because you're one of the Oina's greatest warriors doesn't mean you won't get ill if you stay out in this storm for too long," Kai worried. "And weren't you looking after Lika?"

"Kai, you know Lika doesn't really need looking after. You're just trying to find something for me to do so I won't feel useless. Don't worry so much, I'll be fine."

"But… you're shivering."

_I am?_ Oki glanced at his trembling arms. He hadn't even noticed. He'd been too busy thinking about the demons he hadn't realised how cold he was.

"Well…" he started then trailed off, not really sure what to say. He glanced away at the ice below.

Kai wandered over and brushed some snow from the wood, then sat down next to him. "Why don't you come back inside? It's warmer in there."

"I'm fine."

"But the snowstorm's getting worse…"

"Go inside then."

Kai hesitated for a moment. Then she let out a long sigh, obviously realising he wasn't going to listen to her. "Just because you're a warrior, you don't have to act tough all of the time."

"Huh?" Oki glanced up. "I'm not. I just… I want to get rid of the demons out there before they become any more powerful. I don't want anyone else to get hurt…" he looked away once more.

"Oki…"

Kai paused, and for a moment everything was silent other than the storm.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Oki muttered.

"It… it's my fault… I was the one who wanted to go out to Ponc'tan. If I hadn't asked you to go with me you wouldn't have been hurt…!"

Oki glanced around in surprise once more. The Oina girl sounded so upset, and she almost looked like she was about to cry.

"Kai…" Oki murmured. "It's not your fault. If I hadn't been there then that demon would have got you instead! It's _lucky_ you asked me to go with you."

"Yeah… maybe…"

"Anyways," Oki smiled. "What was up with you? When you ran over to me when I got hit by that Namahage you were practically crying your eyes out."

"Ha… what?" Kai gasped. "No, I… I mean…"

"Heh, don't worry about it!" Oki laughed. "It's okay if you're afraid of demons! Most people are, anyways."

"Oh… yeah…" Kai smiled half-heartedly.

"Okay then," Oki stood up and stretched, shaking snow off his shirt and flinching as the wound in his side stung slightly. "If it'll stop you from worrying about me, I'll go back inside. Lika's probably managed to make an origami Amaterasu by now."

* * *

Luckily there was no danger on the trip back to Agata, and Kokari emerged from the tunnel from Shinshu, looking over the lake. It was hard to imagine that just across the water they'd been fighting loads of imps last night.

He headed along the path, crossing the sand until he made it back to his own house. When he arrived, Kuni was sat on a log outside, scraping lines in the soft earth with a twig.

"Hey, you finally woke up!" Kokari joked.

"I've been awake for hours," Kuni shrugged. "Karude said he sent you to Kamiki."

"Yeah. Don't worry, though, we didn't see any demons – and no one over there has seen any either."

"Okay… that's good," Kuni sighed.

Kokari blinked. "You miss your old home, don't you?"

"Sometimes," Kuni muttered. "But there's nothing I can do about it."

"Huh," Kokari glanced out over the water. A couple of leaves fluttered down from the trees above, landing on the surface and causing it to ripple. Sunlight shimmered on the water. "You know, Kushi said you were welcome to go back there. If you wanted to."

Kuni flinched. "You told her I was here?"

"Well, yes… but I only told Kushi. No one else knows."

"Y-you told them…" Kuni gasped. He stared at the ground for a long moment.

"Um… sorry…?" Kokari apologised.

Eventually Kuni let out a long sigh. "You only told Kushi, right?"

Kokari nodded.

"Well… it's okay then. I don't suppose they care about me enough to try coming out here to find me, so I'll be safe for now."

Kokari was silent from then on. He didn't really know how to reply. There didn't seem to be any hope of convincing Kuni to go back and see the people he'd thought of as his parents. Yet it was none of his business; he didn't know what had happened before Kuni left, so perhaps he was better off staying away from them after all?

* * *

Chibi glanced around, sniffing the air. The dust made him sneeze and he stepped back, blinking. Everything here smelt the same, of old stone and metal, and the lingering scents of Amaterasu, Issun and Waka. He didn't know exactly where they were, but considering how old this place was he decided that trying to sniff anything out wasn't going to work.

The glowing lines on the walls reminded him of the ruins he and Kurow had adventured in a while back, except this place was a lot bigger. And no one seemed to like it, as if something bad had happened here…

Oh well. There was nothing particularly bad here now. Or at least, not that he could tell. There was a slight evil presence, though it was so small it probably only belonged to one or two imps, and that wouldn't be any trouble for them.

As he padded into another room he noticed something at the end of a path. A large round metal thing. It looked a bit like that spacecraft he and Issun had travelled in to get back up here…

This must have been the controls.

He scrambled over and hopped into the cockpit. Now that he'd found this thing, what was he supposed to do…? He'd never be able to find his way back here if he went to try and find the others. For a moment he considered trying to press the buttons to see if any of them worked, but that might be a bad idea…

Well, there was only one thing to do. He threw back his head and let out a high-pitched howl.

* * *

A loud noise echoed all around.

"Sounds like Chibi," Issun observed. "Maybe he found the- whoa!"

He had to scrabble for a grip as suddenly Amaterasu span around and raced away in the direction of the howl.

"Slow down, furball!" he cried. "If you drop me in here I'll be lost for eternity!"

At that comment she slowed her pace slightly.

Issun managed to find some balance and went back to sitting on her fur once more. "I hope this means we can finally get going. We've had to wait days since Moe went and scouted the place." He wasn't going to upset Ammy by going on about whose fault _that_ was. "Darn it, I hope no one's been hurt or killed by demons yet…"

The goddess gave a quiet growl. Obviously she was just as worried as he was.

A few minutes later they found Chibi, sitting by the controls with his tail wagging. He looked proud of himself for being the one to find them.

Amaterasu jumped into the UFO-type craft next to her son and glanced around.

"We're waiting for that prophet again, huh?" Issun tutted, rolling his eyes. "Surely this thing can't be that hard to control…"

He scanned the hundreds of buttons that lined the edges. They were all different colours and only around half of them were labelled, but with strange symbols that he couldn't understand.

"Bah, maybe it is," he shrugged, settling down on Amaterasu's warm fur. "Let's just hope Waka gets here soon." _Never thought I'd hear myself say that._

"Bonjour!"

"Speak of the devil," he grumbled, as the prophet appeared next to them. "You'd better actually know how to drive this thing, fruitcake."

"Of course I do. Who do you think brought the ark up here?"

Waka pressed a bunch of buttons in the controls and suddenly the whole area lit up. The ark didn't seem so creepy when it wasn't pitch-black.

"You might as well settle down somewhere," Waka told them absently as he gazed at the controls, as if he was trying to remember what everything did. "We probably won't arrive at Nippon until tomorrow."

"Huh? How can it take you that long just to fly this thing down there?" Issun snapped. "We're in a hurry! There's demons everywhere and people are in danger!"

"Well, I _could_ get us down there faster," Waka said wryly. "But the last time I flew this thing to Nippon at high speed it crashed into Laochi Lake."

"Wha…" Issun stammered. All of a sudden he was wishing he'd just gone in that little UFO with Chibi… "Point taken. You'd better not crash this time, ya half-baked prophet! The world is counting on us!"

"Trés bien," Waka smiled. "Though if you're here distracting me then I can't promise anything."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Issun grumbled. "C'mon, Ammy, let's go have a look around or something. Chibi, you'd better come with us. Anyone could lose their mind being left alone with that freak for too long."

As the three of them wandered off, Issun could tell that the ark was starting to move. Even if it was going to take a while to get to Nippon, at least they were finally on their way.


	12. Say Thank You

**Issun got: a Hula Hoop!**

**The title of this chapter is a play on words which I guess not everyone will understand, so... one shalt explain.**

**This chapter is mainly about Sei'an. The full name of Sei'an City is Sei'ankyou. Now read that out.**

**Also, look! More minor characters!**

**I seem to like making the minor characters more important that legitibly possible huh.**

* * *

The sun beat down onto the stone streets of Sei'an as Kagu sat outside Yama's restaurant in the shade of one of the parasols. She was watching as Mr. Flower did one of his strange petal-throwing dances from across the river.

_I wonder if he knows that it was mainly me and Pooch that bloomed the trees…_

_Oh well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him._

She hadn't seen Kuni since that incident with the imps a few days ago. That had been the first time she'd seen him in months. Geez, did he really have to be so irritating? Going on about how he 'wasn't Kuni anymore'. It didn't even make any sense. He was Kuni. She knew he was.

Sighing, Kagu got to her feet. Her father was expecting her back at the playhouse for rehearsals soon, and after that she needed to go over to the palace for Miko training. There was a busy day planned for her, she didn't have time to spend moping over other people's problems.

"Everyone! Get somewhere safe!"

"What the!" Kagu gasped as one of the city's guards came running along the path. "What's going on?"

The guard skidded to a halt in front of her, out of breath and looking as if he'd seen a ghost. "Demons… heading this way…" he panted.

"More demons?" Kagu blinked. "Don't worry, I'll sort them out."

The guard looked somewhat confused. "There's a lot of demons there, it's not safe for a little girl."

"A little- what?" Kagu cried. She reached up and grabbed the collar of the man's shirt, dragging him down to eye-level. "Do you not know who I am?"

Looking considerably more frightened now by her anger, the guard managed to break free from her grip and took a step back. "You're… that actress kid, aren't you?"

"Geez, you guards don't know anything!" Kagu tutted. "I'm a _miko_ as well, you know! I can get rid of a bunch of demons, no sweat. Don't you dare underestimate me!"

"Uh… just doing my job," the guard muttered. "I need to warn everyone else, kid. If you want to go fight some demons then it's your funeral."

As the guard raced away, shouting warnings to everyone else, Kagu rolled her eyes. So there were a lot of demons heading this way, huh. That guy was one of the guards from the front of the city, so whatever monsters were approaching, they were coming from the beach. Well, they'd picked the wrong city to attack.

_Looks like I might be a bit late for rehearsals today. I hope father doesn't mind._

* * *

"So… bored…"

Issun stared up at the stone roof of the ark. They were going to be stuck in here for hours, and there was nothing to do. Chibi had fallen asleep already.

"I'd suggest a game of hide-and-seek if this place wasn't such a maze that we'd probably never find anyone for years," the poncle muttered.

No reply.

"Ammy?"

He hopped down from her head. The goddess had fallen asleep as well.

"Guess I'm not the only one who was bored then," Issun sighed. For gods, those two sure were good at sleeping. But Issun wasn't tired at all; there was no way he'd manage to drift off. He just needed to find something to do. He was so bored, even going to find Waka was starting to seem like a good idea…

_What am I thinking? No way!_ He shook his head. _I must be going nuts._

Maybe he could go and explore the ark. Hopefully any demons in here would be less likely to come out now that the place was lit. And besides, who knew was sort of treasure might be hiding in a place as old as this…

Making up his mind, Issun hopped away along the path.

* * *

The streets of the city had cleared quickly when people heard there were demons heading for them. No one wanted to be out in the open where they might get attacked.

_I wonder what everyone will say when I get rid of all the monsters for them_, Kagu thought absent-mindedly as she headed for the city entrance. The guards were standing alert, and she could tell there were more of them up by the wooden gate at the top of the slope.

"Sorry, kid, but we're not allowed to let anyone out of the city," one of the guards said as she walked over. "It's too dangerous."

_Sheesh, the guards are always so busy with their jobs, they barely even pay any attention to what's going on inside the city._ "I'm a miko! I've come here to fight the demons, so let me through!"

Without waiting for them to reply, she pushed her way past the guards and raced up the slope.

"Hey, wait-!"

"The demons are too strong for a kid to be around! You'll get yourself killed!"

"Ignorant guards," Kagu tutted. She barged through the second set of guards as well before they even had a chance to notice she was there.

"Hey! Kid, you should be in the city! Don't you know there are demons heading this way?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here. To fight them off."

"She's out of her mind," one of the guards rolled his eyes.

"The demons are here!"

"Huh?" Kagu glanced around as the guards at the gate ran forward, holding various kinds of weapons. A swarm of demons was heading up to the pier from the beach. Obviously the guards' strategy was that the ones by the gate were going to attack the demons upfront, and those by the city's entrance were going to make sure that any which escaped would not make it into Sei'an.

Of course, Kagu wasn't going to let any of them get that far.

Already a few of the imps were breaking past the guards, bounding clumsily along the path towards her. Kagu effortlessly took a bunch of prayer slips from her pockets, waiting for the imps to get nearer before throwing the pieces of paper. They fanned out, each one hitting its target until the imps were no longer there, and a semi-circle of flowers flashed in the sand before vanishing.

She glanced back briefly. The guards at the entrance to the city were intent on their job and the guards in front of her were too busy battling the demons. _Geez, I take out a whole bunch of demons by my self and no one even watches me do it? It's no wonder none of the guards know who I am._

The next demon that broke through the guard's somewhat-lacking defence was a chimera. It had a creepy monkey-like face and its body looked like a pot of sake. The lid opened slightly, spewing out weird blue liquid that Kagu had to jump aside to dodge. She wasn't sure what it was, but with demons it was always better not to take any chances.

Three prayer slips finished the chimera off. As a large flower sprung from the ground where the demon had collapsed, Kagu noticed some of the guards running back to the city.

"Hey!" she shouted. "You're not running away already, are you?"

Her words were drowned out by a loud shrieking roar. Immediately Kagu span around.

The other guards were making their retreat as well, racing back past her, looking terrified. Most of the demons had been slain, and the path to the city was beginning to look like a flower garden. Yet there was still one left, at least three times the size of the others. It towered above her, letting out another shriek. It looked like some kind of giant insect.

"What… the heck…" Kagu gasped, "… _is_ that?"

* * *

"Hmph. Haven't seen this room before either."

Issun had arrived at another dead end in a long path somewhere inside the ark, which opened out into yet another medium-sized room that only received light from the outside and was teeming with ominous shadows. He had the feeling this was the sort of place where something might be lurking… but at least not many demons would actually think of him as food. Sometimes being so small had its perks. There were other good things about it too, of course…

Suddenly the poncle noticed something glinting in the dim light.

"Huh? What's that?" he muttered, hopping over to investigate. Had he managed to stumble upon some treasure after all?

When he got closer he realised that whatever it was seemed like some sort of circular gold object, like a large ring. It didn't look like much, and it wasn't covered with any of those weird blue lines so it probably wasn't one of the Moon Tribe gadgets. He had the feeling it looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Hm," he picked up the golden hoop. "Ah well, maybe someone else knows what this is."

Carrying the giant ring – which seemed far too big for him to lift, considering his height – Issun hopped back in the direction he came from. Ammy was probably still asleep, but maybe the prophet would know what this thing was. He seemed to at least pretend he knew everything else.

In his haste and due to the lack of light, the poncle hadn't noticed the dark, faded stains that had splattered the shadowy floor and walls of the room.

* * *

The giant caterpillar demon let out another monstrous shriek, scuttling across the grass towards Kagu. For a brief moment she froze in fear.

_Don't be scared. It's just another demon!_

She took another exorcism slip and threw it at the massive insect. The paper landed squarely on its head, but the demon was barely affected. It stopped to flick the paper off, which had reacted to the evil but wasn't strong enough to defeat a monster this big.

Kagu took a step back. _My prayer slips won't work on it! What do I do now?_

She dived aside as massive fangs skewered the ground. If she got hit by this thing she'd be good as dead. It was no wonder the guards had run off.

_Guess I'll have to try and get back to the city as well. But what if it follows me? Then everyone will be in danger…_

"Hey! Insect! Why don't you try attacking someone your own size! What kind of monster only has the power to take out kids?"

The caterpillar demon glanced around, antenna twitching as it tried to work out who had spoken. Kagu would have looked as well, but she was too intent on watching the demon; it might try and attack her again. But she knew that she didn't recognise the voice. _And I'm not just a kid!_

Then all of a sudden something went straight through the back of demon's head. It let out another shriek, and then collapsed to the ground.

Unsure what had just happened, Kagu cautiously went over to investigate. Whatever had killed the demon looked like an arrow.

"Nice shot! Where'd you get the bow and arrow, anyways?"

"One of the guards gave it to me. He was too scared to fire it himself."

Kagu finally glanced around as two guys walked over. They both looked quite similar, though she could tell that one of them was older than the other. The younger one was carrying a bow, which was definitely one of the guards' ones.

"You okay?" the older one asked her. "Sorry we didn't get here sooner. You're that girl from the theatre, right?"

"I… yeah. Of course I'm okay!" she tutted. More people who didn't know who she was. Although they knew she was from the playhouse, so they probably were from somewhere nearby. "Who are _you_?"

"Us? Just some city dwellers," he smiled. "Well, to be exact, we are these days. I'm Kamo, and this is Abe. We used to be the Tao Troopers."

* * *

When Issun eventually found his way back to the room where the controls were, he glanced around in awe. Instead of the plain grey room from before, images were spread around the room, as if they were simply floating in the air. The whole surrounding area looked like somewhere in the clouds, and there were a few smaller screens with more of those weird markings on them.

"Whoa!" he gasped, glancing around at the creamy-coloured clouds. "Where the heck is this?"

"This is where we are," Waka responded to him, not taking his eyes away from the controls and the various screens surrounding him. "It helps to actually be able to see where we're going."

"If you say so," Issun shrugged, jumping up into the control ship. He'd come here to ask the prophet about something, not for a driving lesson. "You always seem to know everything, fruitcake, so what's this?" He dropped the gold ring on the floor.

"Hm?" Waka glanced around at last. As he noticed the object Issun had found he froze for a second. Then he turned back to the screen again. "Nothing important."

"Nothing _important_?" Issun echoed, noticing the prophet's hesitation. "So do you know what it is or not?"

"Oui."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"You know, half-baked prophet!" Issun raged, jumping up and down in annoyance. Why did he have to pretend he didn't know what the poncle was talking about?

Waka was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "Fine. You've heard the story of the Celestials and the ark, I'll leave figuring out what it is up to you, bug," he snapped.

"Okay, okay, geez. I only asked." Issun rolled his eyes. "Wait, so this is like a halo or something?"

"Probably."

Issun knew he wasn't going to get any more information out of him, so he just shrugged and hopped away, taking the halo with him. Maybe Ammy had woken up by now; she might make better conversation, even if she was only a wolf. He didn't know what was up with Waka, but that prophet was being even more annoying than usual.


	13. Return of the Goddess

**Wow, this is the longest chapter so far... and about half of it is filler.**

**OH WELL.**

**Game for the day: Guess the other power Sakuya is sensing and you can have a cookie. (Hint: Nothing/no one that's been in the story so far.)**

**Poor wittle Abe. He misses his captain... *huggles***

**See Waka, that is why you should always tell your ninja followers when you are intending to leave for an alternate universe.**

**Now I'll shut up and let yous read.**

**Like a ninja.**

* * *

"It seems that the giant insect failed to kill anyone. Oh well."

Strong winds whistled past overhead from where they watched the madness unfold. The guards had all freaked out, going crazy trying to keep the demons away from the civilians, and the people in the city had all run and hidden as soon as the threat of demons arose.

And then the strongest demon had been defeated by a petty human arrow.

Still, the guards had failed to notice a man in a black coat and a nine-tailed fox sitting on the cliffs above.

"There seem to be a few humans that are more powerful than they look," Tero muttered, his gaze washing briefly over the two men and the girl in the miko dress, before looking back in the direction of the city. "Others are just useless cowards."

"Aren't _you_ a human?" Ninetails asked. A leaf brushed against his scarred eye and he flicked it off irritably.

"Of course," the man growled, glancing at the fox with narrowed dark-brown eyes. "That doesn't mean I share their weaknesses."

"I-I didn't say it did," Ninetails' ears flattened slightly as he looked away, not wanting to meet the scorching gaze. The fox was scared of him. He knew about his powers and didn't want to get burned. Or sliced into pieces.

"Good."

Tero watched as the city guards scouted around the area, making sure there were no demons left. He knew there weren't. They'd all been killed.

It looked like he'd have to send stronger ones next time.

* * *

The leaves of the Konohana tree rustled slightly in the breeze, the bright pink cherry blossom colours radiant in the sunlight that shone strongly overhead. The village of Kamiki bustled nearby, protected by this tree. It had been their guardian for over a hundred years, but they knew that although it could stop the village from becoming cursed, it could not shield them against the actual demons. With the knowledge that demons had been sighted elsewhere in Nippon, everyone was on edge, waiting anxiously for an attack.

For a while now, Sakuya had been able to sense the evil. The roots of the guardian saplings spread far and white around Nippon and Kamui, and she could tell where the strongest powers were coming from; the northern lands and the west. Shinshu was inevitably caught in the middle, so it would only be a matter of time before demons started heading here as well. Luckily, however, the tree sprite's power was strong, and she was able to hold off some of the evil and stop any curse zones from spreading around the land.

Although, the demons didn't seem to have made much of an attempt in that area…

Yet there wasn't much Sakuya could do. Being the spirit of a tree, very few people could actually see her. She couldn't tell anyone where the demons were coming from and she wouldn't be able to warn them when they were heading this way.

All she could do was remain in Kamiki, where her powers were strongest, and try and hold off the evil for as long as she could.

There were some different presences she could detect as well, however. One of them she didn't recognise, though it was somewhere to the west – not as far as the city, but somewhere around the area of the windy plains of Taka Pass. Even if she couldn't tell who or what this power was, at least it didn't seem to be evil. It was a strange kind of power, as if it originated from somewhere else and was edged with uncertainty.

The other presence she recognised the second she detected it. It had been quite far away before, but it was getting closer. And it was because of this that she knew that Nippon had a hope of surviving against the demonic powers that were rising.

"It's okay," she smiled to herself, looking up at the cloudless blue sky. "Amaterasu is on her way."

* * *

This was one of those times when Issun couldn't really agree with himself. On one hand, he thought it'd be hilarious if Waka ended up crashing the ark into the lake again. On the other hand, he didn't want that to happen considering there was the chance they might all die.

Instead, he just buried himself in Amaterasu's fur, unable to watch.

And then there was a weird noise.

"Ah! Heck! What was that?" he gasped, jumping up again and looking around. The screens had vanished and the walls of the room were visible once more, and most of the ark seemed to have gone dark. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry, my little bouncing friend," Waka smiled. "There's nothing to be scared of. We've arrived."

"Scared? Pff. Yeah right," Issun laughed nervously, definitely not about to admit that for a moment there he'd been seriously worried. Although, that worry wasn't entirely gone yet. "You… do know where the door is, right?"

"Of course. Honestly, Issun, you're a Celestial Envoy and you can't even find the way out of a little boat?"

"_Little_?" Issun grumbled. "Just show us the way out, fruitcake! We still don't know whether there's anything dangerous in here!"

"Actually, there probably is. I found an imp in here when we were looking for the controls."

"_What_!" Issun cried in disbelief. "You mean this whole time we were stuck inside a monster-infested ark? And you didn't even think to tell us!"

"Well, we couldn't have our little envoy spending the whole journey in terror, could we?"

"Shut up! Just show us the way out! I have a god here and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Amaterasu rolled her eyes.

"My, my," Waka teased. "You really are scared. Don't worry; I'll lead you to the door now. Just don't have a heart attack on the way there."

As the prophet walked past, Issun grabbed the hilt of his sword Denkomaru in annoyance. He had it in his right mind to slice Waka to pieces, but Ammy would probably get mad at him if he did that. Instead he just sat back down on the wolf's fur. Waka was only trying to wind him up. Issun would have to try and find some way to not let it get to him.

After navigating the winding paths of the ark, the four of them finally reached the way out. The door opened automatically, pouring light into the darkness, and Issun had to shield his eyes against it. Snowflakes blew in as well.

"Geez, it's a bad storm out here," he muttered as they emerged out onto the platform. "You _sure_ this is Ezofuji? I can barely see a thing."

"Definitely," Waka nodded, holding up one hand to shield his eyes from the snow. "I guess we'd better get going before things get any worse."

"You don't need to tell us twice! Ammy, I'd better go back to Ponc'tan quickly just to let them know I'm back, and then we can go kick some demon butt!"

Amaterasu nodded, glancing at Chibi who was stood beside her. The young wolf was shivering. He hadn't been to Kamui before.

"And maybe we should take Chibi to Wep'keer," he shrugged.

"Trés bien," Waka shrugged. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Where are you going, fruitcake?"

"I'm heading south, the weather here is freezing!" the prophet laughed. "Au revoir!"

With that, he vanished in a cloud of sparks.

"Ah well, he'd never last out here anyways," Issun muttered. "It's a shame though. I was hoping the cold might make him a bit less half-baked."

* * *

"Oh yeah, I've heard of you," Kagu mumbled as she glanced at first Kamo, then Abe. "I heard you vanished about a year ago."

"Well, I'm not sure whether _vanished_ is the right word," Kamo shrugged a little helplessly. "But we couldn't really do anything other than return to living in the city."

"Shortly after Queen Himiko died, our captain vanished as well," Abe sighed, glancing away. "No one's seen him since."

"Oh… sorry to hear that," Kagu muttered awkwardly. "Anyway, I guess I should thank you for defeating that demon for me."

"No problem," Kamo smiled. "But isn't it a bit dangerous for a little girl to be wandering around here in the middle of an attack?"

_They really don't know who I am._"What do you mean, a _little_ _girl_? I'm Kagu, the city's most powerful young miko! I can defend myself!" _Well, except when my attacks won't work…_

Kamo blinked, seeming slightly surprised. "Oh, so that's why you're wearing that outfit. Well, if you say so. But even the most experienced fighters are still in danger around demons."

"I know, I know," Kagu tutted. "But-"

"Abe, look out!"

Kagu glanced around as Kamo suddenly interrupted her.

The caterpillar demon wasn't dead yet. It had got back to its feet and was looming over the younger man, about to attack.

"Huh? Ah!" Abe gasped as he realised what was happening, jumping out of the way just in time to avoid the demon's fangs.

Kagu took a step back, automatically reaching for the exorcism slips she had even though she knew they wouldn't work. Why hadn't she waited to make sure the demon was dead? If it was it would have vanished and sprouted a flower. Clearly that arrow hadn't been deep enough to kill it – it had just made it angry.

But there was no need for her to act. There was a flash of silver and the demon let out another shriek, collapsing to the floor once more – this time in two pieces. It burst into a massive flower and vanished.

Kamo flicked the demon blood from his sword and sheathed it again. "Hopefully it'll stay dead this time."

Kagu was about to chime in by pointing out how the demon had vanished, but she suddenly got the feeling they were being watched. She glanced up at the cliffs above.

There was no one there.

_Huh. Guess I'm just imagining things._

* * *

"Old man Kemu!" Samickle shouted above the noise of the wind. "You should stay inside! There's a snowstorm out here!"

The elderly Wep'keer chief was standing outside his house at the top of the village, and he seemed to only half hear the warrior's warning, like he was lost in thought. Then suddenly he jumped.

"Shiranui!"

"What?" Samickle called. Was Kemu going nuts?

"Shiranui! I can smell her scent! I do have the best sense of smell in the whole of the Oina, you know."

Samickle just sighed. It looked like he _was_ going nuts after all. Slightly irritated, he trudged through the snow along the path to the elder's house. "Kemu, you're imagining things."

Kemu wasn't listening to him. He was too busy watching the path that lead up to Laochi Lake. "But that looks like Shiranui!"

_Huh?_ Samickle followed his gaze. He could barely see anything through the storm. Yet there did appear to be something moving towards them…

"Hey, old man Kemu! Samickle!" a high-pitched voice shouted. "Long time no see!"

"Is that Issun?" Samickle gasped.

At last he could see who it was running towards them; a red and white wolf. Her white fur had been camouflaged in the snow.

"Told you it was Shiranui!" Kemu pointed out.

"For the last time, gramps, it's Amaterasu, not Shiranui!" Issun tutted as the wolf skidded to a halt in front of them. He turned to Samickle. "So, Sammy, how's the village? I hear there are more demons wandering around now. No one's been hurt, have they?"

Samickle narrowed his eyes, though luckily the poncle wouldn't have been able to tell because of the mask. Issun had always been one of spite and the two of them had never really been particularly friends, but he could tell that the sprite was genuinely worried about the villagers. "We haven't had any very serious injuries. Oki and Kai were attacked outside of Yoshpet a few days ago, and we're preparing just in case demons invade the village."

"Oki and Kai? Are they okay?"

"Kai's fine. Oki was wounded but it's nothing he can't handle."

"Okay, that's good," Issun nodded – as far as Samickle could tell. "Well, I need to go see old man Ishaku to let him know I'm still alive in case those guys think I kicked the bucket or somethin'. We'll leave Chibi with you guys, cuz I don't want the little guy turning into an icicle."

A wolf puppy that looked like a smaller version of Amaterasu was still making its way through the deep snow along the path. When it finally reached them, Samickle could tell it was shivering.

"Chibi?" he echoed. "Sounds like a fitting name. Sure, just go do whatever you need to do."

* * *

_Ah, Shinshu. Simply merveilleux._

The view of the fields from the cliffs was amazing. Cherry blossom leaves fluttered past on the gentle breeze, and the sun enhanced the beautiful green and blue colours of the grass and rivers. Wherever the demons were, they didn't seem to have made it here yet. Or if they had, they were demons with good taste and didn't want to ruin the view…

Still, at least it was a lot warmer here than it had been in Kamui.

It would probably be quite a while before Amaterasu and the others got here, and since he could easily teleport around Waka decided he might as well scout around to find out where the demons were hiding. They had to have some kind of stronghold somewhere, so all they'd have to do was take that place out and all the monsters in Nippon should just disappear.

Although, teleporting made his wounds sting. Even now, not all of them had healed. And he was starting to get uncomfortable having what seemed like an extra layer of clothing completely made up from bandages. Ah well. They'd heal completely soon enough.

Since Shinshu was clear, he might as well head west. Kamiki wasn't likely to be in any danger right now if the demons hadn't even made it this far yet. It looked like his next stop was Agata forest. And this time he wasn't going to teleport…

Using the wings of hit hat to glide through the air, Waka jumped down to the grass below and headed for the far side of Shinshu.

He'd just reached the top of the slope leading down to Harami Lake when he stopped in surprise.

The lake stretched out below and into the distance, just as always. But he was getting the strange sense that something wasn't quite right.

_Am I just imagining things? _He blinked. _Only one way to find out…_

Waka made his way down the slope, just as he had done countless times before, and headed for the gate that was situated part of the way along the sandy path, which stopped about twenty metres out into the lake. If everything was as normal then nothing should happen. Cautiously he stepped through the gate.

The second he did, the surroundings warped for a second before he could no longer see the shrine building or the cliffs behind him, and in front of him the path stretched out further until it reached a large mountain. An opening in the rocks loomed in the closest side, the darkness inside ominous and foreboding. Waka knew what this place was.

_The Moon Cave._

This place had vanished along with Orochi's corpse when Amaterasu defeated the serpent last year. Why was it back now? Surely Orochi hadn't been revived a second time?

Although, if it was the serpent's doing, there would probably have been a barrier across the opening to the cave. Now the tunnel gaped in the dim light like a wound in the rocks.

The prophet considered whether he should go and investigate, however going into that cave alone not knowing what waited there would practically be suicide. Still, it must have taken a lot of power to rebuild this mountain. Whatever had done so was definitely very powerful, and the place wouldn't be unguarded.

It would be better to leave this area for now and come back later when Amaterasu got here.

Casting one last glance back at the foreboding caves, Waka turned and walked back through the gate and into the sunlight once more. The goddess probably wouldn't be here for a while, so he might as well continue scouting the rest of Nippon.

* * *

"We'd better look out, Ammy. We don't know what's hiding in this crazy storm."

Issun was holding onto the wolf's fur with one hand and his hat with the other as they sped along the path leading to Kamui. Not only was he battling against gravity, but the wind was threatening to blow him away from a different direction. This was one of the things he certainly hadn't missed about this place; the mad weather.

At the same time he was also trying to see through the snow which seemed to spiral in just about every direction. The white blanket that had settled on the ground was so deep that Amaterasu couldn't even run at full speed – although this made keeping his balance on her head much easier. Yet he couldn't help feeling that any moment now the wolf might end up tripping over a stray stone or anything else which might be hiding under the snow.

When they reached the end of the path and crossed the bridge over the frozen river, Ammy paused, glancing around. It was too cold to try picking up any scents, so they'd have to rely on eyesight for now. Unfortunately, right now it was hard to see a thing.

"Yoshpet's to the left," Issun reminded her, leaning closer to her ear to make sure she could hear him.

Ammy nodded, turning to the left and heading half-blindly through the snow. It was a good thing the cliffs surrounding the area were easy to see.

As they headed for the forest, Issun noticed something in the corner of his eye.

"Wait up, Ammy! What's that over there?"

He pulled her fur to the left and she glanced around in that direction, trying to work out what he had seen.

On top of one of the rocks only just breaching the surface of the snow, it almost looked like something was glowing. Something yellow…

Then he gasped.

"Ammy, go over to that rock. Mush!"

Giving a faint growl at first due to him ordering him around, Amaterasu soon noticed the anxiety in his voice and hurried over to the rock. The second it was within jumping distance, Issun hopped from her head and landed on the hard surface, running over to the faintly glowing light.

It was a poncle, collapsed on the stone. One he knew well.

"Miya!" he shouted, shaking her shoulder. "Miya, get up! Oh heck, she's not dead, is she?"

Amaterasu gave a loud bark.

"Huh…?" Miya opened her eyes slowly. "Where… Issun…? Is that really you…?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive. "Course it's really me! Who did you expect? And what the heck are you doing all the way out here?" He wouldn't be surprised if the reason she'd passed out was because of the cold. Ponc'tan was so deep into Yoshpet that it was hardly ever affected by the weather, so it was a lot warmer there.

"I… um…" Miya looked like she was trying to remember. Then she jolted up into a sitting position, her eyes wide. "Wait! I remember now! I went go get help!"

"Help…?" Issun blinked. "Help with what?"

"Ponc'tan is under attack from a demon!"


	14. Home Is

**A new chapter, an old demon and an old character returning...**

**This isn't very original is it xD**

**Cookies for you if you worked out that the power Sakuya sensed was Kaguya. But I don't think anyone did...**

**My theory to Kaguya's power is that the Moon Tribe usually have some kind of clairvoyancy (says Okami wiki...), and some of them have a stronger clairvoyancy than others. While Waka can see the future, Kaguya can see the present, meaning she can tell what is going on just about anywhere. Kinda like Dovewing from Warriors...**

**Anyways, ramble of headcanon over. ON WITH THE STORY.**

* * *

It took a moment for what she had said to sink in.

"Ponc'tan… attacked by… hah… Miya, that must have been some dream you had while you were out," he laughed nervously. How would Ponc'tan get attacked? It was far too small for any normal-sized demons to even fit inside.

"Seriously!" Miya cried, looking slightly upset that Issun didn't seem to believe her. "I went to find help and this is as far as I got… I-I don't know how long I was out for… what if it's already too late!"

So she was telling the truth after all.

All of a sudden Issun felt like he was frozen on the inside now as well.

"Ammy, let's go!" he said hurriedly, hopping back onto the wolf's head.

"What about me?" Miya asked.

"Gah! Just… well…" Issun knew they couldn't just leave her out here in the freezing cold after she'd collapsed. But if the village was really under attack, it wouldn't be safe there either…

It didn't look like there was much of a choice.

"You'll have to come with us," he shrugged. "Just don't go back into the village when we get there. Stay outside."

"Oh… o-okay," Miya stammered, jumping and landing on Amaterasu's back. It was hard to tell whether she was nervous about going back to a demon-infested village or riding on the back of a wolf.

"Now let's go!" Issun shouted. "We don't have time to waste!"

* * *

"Hey, a puppy!"

Chibi nearly jumped out of his already-frozen skin as a young Oina girl shouted in glee and ran over to pet him.

"Lika!" an older girl called, hurrying over. "Oh, hey Samickle. What's all the commotion about?"

The Oina warrior had taken Chibi further into the village, where there was more protection from the snowstorm, although there seemed to be more people around here. There were plenty of houses in this village, though only three of the inhabitants had come to meet them, so the others were probably taking shelter inside. There was the young Oina girl, a slightly older girl with long brown hair, and a guy with a bear mask. The fact that everyone wore masks in this place was starting to make Chibi nervous… he couldn't see anyone's faces or what their expressions were.

"You look like Amaterasu!" Lika laughed, patting him on the head and then giving him a tight hug.

He didn't protest. At least she was warm…

"Amaterasu was here a minute ago," Samickle told them. "She and Issun went to Ponc'tan, but I think they're coming back here. They left this little guy here with us. I think his name's Chibi."

The wolf pup nodded.

"He's so cute!" Lika giggled, hugging him tighter.

Okay, now he was starting to get crushed…

"Amaterasu and Issun were here?" the older girl gasped. "So they're okay?"

"They're fine, Kai. I'm not sure where they've been all this time, but I'm guessing they came back because of the demons we've been seeing."

"Issun's here too?" Lika blinked, finally releasing her grip on Chibi.

"Since Amaterasu is here now, I guess that means it's safer to go outside of the village?" the other guy muttered.

"Oki, you know Kemu has forbidden you to leave the village until your wound heals."

Oki just sighed. "It was worth a shot."

Kai was looking at Chibi thoughtfully. "This little guy looks just like Amaterasu. Do you think he's a god as well?"

Chibi nodded enthusiastically, flicking his little tail and drawing a small trail of flowers in the snow.

"I guess that proves it then," Kai laughed. "Why'd they leave him here?"

"He hasn't been to Kamui before. Issun said it was too cold for him."

"Oh, I see," Kai reached down to stroke Chibi's head. Even though it was unsettling that all of the Oina wore masks, at least most of them were nice. "Maybe we should get him inside. It's warmer in there."

_Somewhere warmer? Yes please! _Chibi nodded once more.

* * *

Trees flashed past on either side as the wolf raced through Yoshpet. The demon trees that lurked within seemed to be coming back to life, most likely due to whatever was causing the other demons in the land to re-awaken, and every now and then a fruit would fly towards them, only to get power slashed back at the tree again and knock it out. Issun had a firm grip on Amaterasu's fur, partly because otherwise he'd fall off and partly because he was so worried about the village. Every now and then he shouted directions when it looked like Ammy was about to go the wrong way, and every time she made a sharp turn he looked back to make sure Miya hadn't fallen off.

Eventually, the clearing loomed ahead. Usually the area around the large tree stump was full of life, plants everywhere and a few animals grazing on them, but now the plants seemed wilted, and snow was settling on the ground, and the clearing felt just as freezing as the rest of Kamui.

As soon as they got anywhere near the tree stump, Issun could see the strange green fog that was building up around it. It seemed familiar, but not in a good way.

"Dammit, I hope we aren't too late," he muttered, jumping from the wolf's head and racing towards the village.

Then a second later something came down on top of him, pinning him in the snow.

"Hey! Let me go, furball!" he snapped.

Ammy just barked sadly, her ears flat against her head. She knew that she couldn't go inside the village. They didn't have the Lucky Mallet.

"I gotta do something about this demon!" he cried, struggling to break free. "If I don't, no one else will! Now let me go, you stupid lump of fur!"

She barked again. He knew she didn't want him to go in there by himself, but what other choice was there?

Issun let out a long sigh, which was difficult since it still felt like he was being crushed. "I promise I won't die, okay, Ammy?"

Silence. Then the weight holding him down disappeared.

Issun stood up and dusted down his tiny kimono. "Don't worry, furball, I'll lay the smack down on whatever midget monster has managed to find its way in there. A stupid demon won't get the better of me!"

Ammy still didn't look completely convinced, but she nodded anyways.

"I can help too!" Miya called, jumping down from the wolf's back and landing in the snow.

"Miya!" Issun gasped. The young poncle had probably never fought anything in her life – and not to mention she'd already been beaten by the weather today. "No, just… stay here and keep this furball company for me, would ya?"

"Oh… okay," Miya shrugged.

Issun turned and hopped over to the tree stump once more. This time no one stopped him. He jumped through the gap in the wood, heading into the village that was his home.

The fog inside the village was thick, and even from here Issun could hear the sound of coughing. As he made his way along the path, he could see that some of the small stones it was made from were bloodstained. Then he noticed someone collapsed on the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" he called, racing over. When he got nearer to them he realised it was one of Ishaku's guards. They must have tried to fight the demon.

"Is… is that… Issun?" the poncle gasped. He had a nasty-looking wound in his side which was still bleeding badly.

"Yep, it's me," he shrugged quickly. "Where's the demon?"

The guard glanced up at one of the large leaves that towered overhead. "Up there. We… tried to fight it… but we weren't… fast enough…"

"Okay, just hang in there," Issun said hurriedly. If they'd been fighting the demon up there then this guy must have fallen off. He could see the other guard across the village, making sure no one went any closer to the demon in case they got attacked as well.

"Hey, it's Issun!" one of the poncles shouted.

"No time for a reunion!" Issun called. He had a demon to deal with first…

He jumped up to get to the leaf the guard had told him the enemy was on. It didn't even move under his weight as he landed. The demon was facing away from him, but because of the numerous blades that protruded from its back and the gloomy green fog that emanated from it, Issun recognised it immediately.

"We meet again," he muttered. "Huh, Blight."

* * *

Moonlight shone overhead, illuminating the tall bamboo plants that lined the path. In the distance there was the gentle knocking sound of a sōzu, and the quiet singing of sparrows as they made their way back to their nests. It would have been a beautiful night had it not been for the knowledge that the lands were currently plagued with demons.

A girl walked along the path from Sasa Sanctuary, looking around at the moonlit rocks and grass. It felt like ages since she'd last been here. And it had been. Not a lot seemed to have changed…

Except now she knew who she was. Kaguya. The princess of the Moon Tribe.

Ever since her adoptive grandfather had taken her in, she'd always wondered who she was, unable to remember. Then last year after the Emperor had imprisoned her, and Amaterasu had helped to release her, she'd found the rocket that had brought her to Nippon, buried in the bamboo grove in Sasa Sanctuary. She'd used that rocket to return to the moon, to find out where she came from.

But when she'd got there… it was a sight she wouldn't easily forget.

There were many piles of rubble which would have once been buildings of some sort, only a few of them still standing. Not to mention, every now and then she would find a pile of bones, a faded bloodstain, or some other proof that there had once been people living there, but had been wiped out long ago. Over two centuries ago.

And that was when all the memories had come flooding back to her.

She'd only been a very young child – little more than a baby – when the Moon Tribe had been destroyed, but she could remember how it happened now. Demons had run riot on the moon. _Powerful_ demons. They killed everyone. Her parents had bundled her into that space rocket in the hope that she would be able to escape.

It seemed a little unfair to her. Everyone else had died, but because she was the daughter of royalty she'd been able to get to safety and live.

Although there was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn't help the Moon Tribe. They were long gone.

But Nippon needed her help now. Not only had she recovered memories, but she'd discovered the full extent of her powers as well. She was determined to help rid this land of demons.

Mainly because she'd seen what happened to the Moon Tribe, and she didn't want anything like that to ever happen again.


	15. Where The Heart Is

**And now, ladies and gentlemen... Tero has finally had a WTF moment. And they said it couldn't be done.**

**Also the title of this chapter is a carry on from the previous one xD**

**Just for the record, I do not ship WakaxKaguya. AT ALL. I don't really know why, I just... don't. That doesn't mean that their encounters won't be really awkward though xD**

**Nothing else to say here other than... poor Issun.**

* * *

Green fog hovered around, making the air heavy and laden with a disgusting stench. Issun reflected on the last time he'd been around air this thick, in Sei'an city when the Emperor had been possessed by a demon and the air had spread over the whole of the city.

And now that demon was standing in front of him once more.

How was that even _possible_?

A dozen swords glinted in the dim light as the evil parasite turned around, a bunch of armour and weapons seemingly floating in the air since the demon didn't appear to have any physical body. That must have been how it had been able to possess someone.

"You are that bug who managed to find its way inside the emperor," Blight said plainly, his voice evil and metallic as if it was echoing around the armour.

"Bug? You're one to talk," Issun replied spitefully. "But I'm glad you remember me. It means you'll know who it is kicking your butt for the second time!"

"You do not have that tiny wolf with you this time," the demon growled. "You do not stand a chance against me."

"Oh, please," Issun tutted, drawing his sword Denkomaru and slicing it through the air, causing some of the fog to split apart. It was literally so thick you could cut it with a knife. "I wouldn't underestimate me. You'll be in pieces by the time I'm through with you. In fact, you should be in pieces already. Me and Ammy killed you last year, how the heck are you even alive?"

"He used his power to bring us back."

"He? Who's _he_?" Issun blinked.

"That is not of your concern."

Suddenly a bunch of swords appeared in the air surrounding the demon, shooting through the air and heading for Issun. He hopped out of the way as the blades skewered the leaf.

In a flash Blight was in front of him, and he found himself staring into the empty armour. He jumped back to evade again but this time he wasn't quite fast enough, and the demon's sword sliced through the already-burnt skin of his arm.

"Foolish bug. You should not have picked a fight with me."

* * *

Grass and leaves waved back and forth in the wind, clouds passing by overhead in the almost-clear sky. The sun shone down from overhead of Shinshu, just as it had been doing all day.

However, Tero was more interested in something else than the view.

"What the heck?" he muttered in disbelief as he watched a rather flashy-looking figure vanish down the tunnel leading to Agata Forest below. "Didn't I _kill_ that guy?"

Ninetails just watched, one ear twitching.

"He had a lucky escape," Tero growled, turning and walking across the grass, somewhat lost in thought. He'd fought that guy on the Celestial Plain. If he was here now that probably meant Amaterasu was around here somewhere as well. That also meant… "He's a friend of the goddess, isn't he?"

"I… think so," Ninetails nodded, being careful about every word he said. "D-do you want me to go and kill him…?"

"No," Tero halted and turned back around to look at the fox once more. "If he's a good friend of the goddess, he may come in handy. So try and avoid killing him for now." He glanced at the sea on the horizon thoughtfully. Amaterasu was in Nippon now. That meant that the plan was working… "When that goddess gets here, I want you to make sure she stays in Shinshu. If she goes any further than here then catching her will be annoying because we'll have to try and haul a god back over here."

"You want me to stop her?" Ninetails blinked. "By fighting her?"

"No, you idiot!" Tero snapped, causing the fox demon to flinch. "You think you can keep the goddess here by fighting her? After she already beat you twice? She'd finish you off in a matter of seconds." He tutted, walking over to stand in front of Ninetails, who was starting to look even more nervous. "No, there are ways of getting people to stay in one place that don't involve fighting. Much _easier_ ways, especially if you're an idiot of a demon that can't remember what his own powers are."

* * *

It didn't take long for Waka to get through Agata Forest, using the wings on his hat to fly from tree to tree whilst keeping an eye on the woods below. There were definitely some demons here, just not particularly strong ones – no more than imps. Nothing of particular concern.

As he headed through Taka Pass there didn't seem to be many demons around there either – there were very few trees here and thus not many shadows for them to hide in. Demons liked dark places. There were probably likely to be some up at Gale Shrine, but Kusa Village was protected by a group of canine warriors, so he decided they'd probably be safe for now. Instead, he continued west, heading for Ryoshima.

The strong winds across the canyon of the City Checkpoint meant he couldn't fly across the gap, but the drawbridge was down and, as usual, the guard was fast asleep and didn't notice him pass. Briefly Waka wondered what would happen if any demons came through here. Maybe they'd mistake that guard for a colourful rock or something.

As he headed along the path leading to the coast, he noticed someone walking up ahead. Wanting to try and avoid people as best he could, Waka was about to fly up to the cliffs instead when suddenly he froze.

There was no mistaking it. That person had golden hair that reached at least down to their waist.

_No… they can't be…_

As if they'd just noticed he was there, the other person looked around quickly, hair swaying around over one shoulder. It was a woman, and she had the golden hair that only people from the Moon Tribe had…

So how come Waka didn't recognise her at all?

"Oh, sorry… am… I in your way?" she asked, stepping aside slightly. She had a heavily-layered kimono that dragged along the ground when she walked, but she seemed used to it, not tripping over the material at all.

Waka blinked, hoping no kind of emotion had shown on his face. "No, its okay," he said, glancing away at the grass. He hesitated for a moment, trying to work out how to phrase the question. "Excusez-moi for asking, but… you're not from Nippon, are you?"

"Huh?" the girl blinked, obviously confused as to why a stranger would ask that. "Well… no… I-I'm from the Moon Tribe, really… my name's Kaguya."

_Kaguya!_

Now he knew who she was.

"Trés bien. Sorry, but I must be going," he muttered hurriedly. "Au revoir."

Then he vanished in a cloud of sparks, leaving the girl looking even more confused than before.

Waka reappeared on one of the cliffs above Ryoshima, clutching his side with one hand as he got a stabbing pain from one of the healing wounds. Maybe he'd teleported out of there a bit too quickly.

Yet as soon as he knew who that girl was he'd just wanted to get away as fast as possible. Now he knew the name he remembered who she was; Kaguya, princess of the Moon Tribe. The last time he'd seen her she had just been a baby, so it was no wonder he hadn't recognised her. He wasn't sure how she'd escaped the destruction of the tribe, but it had to be her. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. And besides, she'd told him outright that she was from the Moon Tribe.

And that was why he wanted to stay away from her. Although he hadn't been able to recognise her, he'd seen her quite a few times while on the moon whenever he'd visited the royals. He was worried that she might recognise _him_. What would she do if she knew that he'd escaped the destruction, left on the ark, abandoning everyone in the tribe for his own safety?

She'd probably hate him. And he wouldn't blame her. He probably deserved it.

Yet that didn't mean he was going to let anyone suffer from the feeling of hatred just because he felt he had to atone for what he'd done. It'd probably just be best if she never found out who he was.

* * *

Issun was highly aware of the green mist getting thicker as time wore on. It was already effecting the villagers and the guard had sent everyone inside to try and escape it the best they could before going to retrieve his co-worker. Issun wanted to try and end this battle as soon as he could, but that was easier said than done.

At the moment he was mainly trying to avoid the swords that were flying around everywhere, stabbing the leaf they were on and then vanishing a second later. He still didn't understand how demons could do that. And every now and then, Blight would suddenly appear in front of him so quickly he wouldn't have a chance to escape and he'd get hit by Goldnail. Yet strangely the demon wasn't giving him any wounds that would be serious enough to kill him.

Obviously Blight was just toying with him.

Not to mention he didn't even get the change to retaliate. Any time he got anywhere near the demon it just dodged away from him in a split second.

_Crap… this isn't going well… _Issun thought ruefully, remembering the guard left for dead in the middle of the path.

Another pack of swords went flying towards him and he hopped aside, starting to get out of breath from all of the dodging now. Yet as soon as he landed the leaf jolted beneath him.

"Ah!" he gasped as the ground seemed to vanish. Obviously the leaf had been skewered so many times that it had collapsed underneath his weight.

Air rushed past and all the breath was knocked out of him as he hit the path below.

Issun lay dazed for a moment before he scrambled to his feet. _Hah. Looks like all those times that furball dropped me on the ground have finally paid off._ That height had been nothing compared to falling off of Ammy's head. Yet that didn't mean it hadn't taken any of his energy. He was worn out, and as he stood up blood dripped onto the ground, staining the stones even more.

He reached over to grab Denkomaru which he'd dropped when he fell, and the second he'd clasped the handle he quickly had to draw his arm back as a bunch of swords flew into the ground.

"Haven't you had enough yet?" Blight growled, floating down towards the ground until empty sandals met the bloodstained path. "I thought you would have given up by now. You put up more of a fight than those other bugs did. Just give up and let me kill you now."

Letting out a laugh, Issun managed to gain the strength to stand tall – well, as tall as he could – and grin. "Heh. As if I'd do that! The great Issun never gives in, especially to stupid demons like-"

Then he was cut off as a sword went straight through his side.


	16. A Small Fight

**Well lookie here, it's an all-Kamui chapter. Totally not like cuz there's currently nothing for the other characters to do or anything.**

**And Issun is now the Witch Doctor.**

**Or something like that.**

* * *

_Ahhhhhhh. Nice and warm._

Chibi let out a contented sigh as he curled up in front of the fireplace in Kai's house. It was much warmer in here than outside and more comfortable than being half-crushed by a child. He wasn't used to the cold. A few months back, when he'd last been in Nippon, he'd never visited the northern lands - and he was glad of that. This place was freezing. And was there always so much snow here?

His ears twitched as he heard Kai and Oki talking across the room.

"They must have been gone for quite a while now," Oki mused, sounding partially concerned. "Think we should go check they're okay?"

"Oki, this is Amaterasu we're talking about," Kai reminded him. "If she runs into some demons she'll be fine. You're just looking for an excuse to get out of the village."

"Of course not!" Oki protested, although he didn't sound totally convincing. "But they've been gone for some time now, and since they left Chibi here with us then we know they're intending to come back. I'm going to go and find them."

"What?" Kai gasped. "Oki, Kemu said you're not supposed to leave Wep'keer! You're still wounded!"

"Kemu can't keep me trapped here forever. Have you forgotten that I don't even live in this village? He can't stop me from going home."

"But what if you run into any demons? I know Amaterasu would be fine on her own, being a god and all, but if you get ambushed you'll be done for!"

"I'll be fine, Kai!" Oki growled, irritated. "They went to Ponc'tan, right?"

No reply.

"Kai?"

The Oina girl let out a long sigh. "Yes, they went to Ponc'tan. But if you're going I'm coming with you."

"Huh? Don't be stupid, Kai, you were just telling me _I'd_ have no chance out there! You've never fought anything in your life! Unless you count Lika."

"I'm not letting you go by yourself. If anything _does_ happen then you'll be left to die out there."

Oki hesitated for a moment, pulling the mask down over his face. Then he sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. You can come too."

As vanished out the door, Chibi jumped up. They were going out to find his mum and Issun? And from the way they were talking it sounded like it was dangerous outside – probably because of all the demons. He was a god. Wasn't it his job to protect people?

Well, as much as he'd like to stay by the fire and in the warm, Chibi knew that he wasn't going to sit around while Oki and Kai went off into danger. He sped after them, back out into the snow.

* * *

_Blood._

_Why is there blood here?_

Pain. In his side. Now Issun remembered what was going on.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out for, but he could just about see Blight floating away from him. It couldn't have been that long. And then he realised there was quite a loud sound coming from somewhere.

Barking.

_Don't worry, furball. I'm not dead._

He forced himself to get up, even though he didn't think he'd ever been in so much pain in his entire life, other than perhaps one time when Waka had – probably intentionally – stepped on him. But Issun had never been stabbed by anything before. Sometimes being so small had its advantages.

"Hm?" Blight seemed like he was looking over his shoulder at the poncle even though he didn't actually have eyes or a face. "You're still alive?"

_So that's why he was leaving. He thought he'd killed me. _"Yeah. I promised Ammy I wouldn't die. And I like keeping my promises." _But it doesn't look like I'll be able to keep this up much longer…_

"Well, you'll have to break this one," Blight growled in his fierce metallic voice. "This time I'll make sure you're dead!"

Issun noticed the armour shaking, showing that the demon was about to strike. There was no way he could avoid the blow this time, and it looked like it was going to be a serious one.

_I'm sorry, Ammy…!_

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. That must be what happens when you're about to die.

Then he realised that everything was _actually_ in slow motion.

Some of the fog surrounding Blight was purple now, rather than green.

_Isn't that… Veil of Mist…?_

_Nice one, furball!_

He could hear Amaterasu barking from outside the village, and he knew that she must be able to see what was going on – probably from looking through the entrance. And now she was using her powers to help him.

Well, he could definitely use her help.

As quickly as he could, Issun picked up Denkomaru and ran towards the demon, slicing his sword through the air and knocking Goldnail out of Blight's grasp. How the parasite was holding that sword in the first place when he didn't even have hands was beyond him. Blight gave a roar of anger and the armour collapsed to the ground, Goldnail embedding itself in-between the stones of the path.

"Thanks, Ammy!" Issun called, casting a quick glance behind him at the gap in the tree stump. He couldn't really see anything outside, but he heard a bark in reply.

Still, no time to waste. Issun hurried over to the sword and sliced through it multiple times, causing it to split into four pieces. The armour and the sword vanished, bursting into tiny flowers, and the green fog started to lift.

The poncle fell to his knees, exhausted.

_I did it. I defeated Blight. I saved Ponc'tan._

He'd have loved to go and find everyone and bask in the glory, but he didn't really want the other poncles seeing him so beaten up. The wound in his side was still bleeding and he had various trails of blood running down his arms from the scars he'd gained at the beginning of the battle.

_Well, looks like my work here is done._ He wandered back over to the entrance of the village, not hopping like he usually did because it was too painful.

"Some fight, huh, furball," he wheezed, attempting to jump back onto her head but only managing to go a few inches. Luckily the wolf reached over and caught him on her nose. "Thanks for the help, by the way. Miya, it should be safe to go back now." He scrambled up onto Amaterasu's head and collapsed on her fur.

"Issun!" Miya cried. "You're bleeding!"

"So?" he tutted. "I'll live. Go back to Ponc'tan and make sure everyone's okay, would ya? I didn't get a chance to check they recovered from the creepy fog."

After casting one last glance at him, Miya hopped over to the tree stump and disappeared inside.

Issun sighed and sat up, his side throbbing painfully. "Sorry for getting blood on ya, furball."

Ammy gave a quiet whimper, trying to look up at him. If she was irritated at all by the stains on her fur then she didn't let it show. She was just glad he was still alive.

"Issun, you idiot!"

He glanced back over at the entrance to Ponc'tan. "Well, good to see you too, gramps."

Ishaku was stood at the entrance of the village. "You take on a demon all by yourself and then you just run off covered in wounds?"

"It's not that big a deal, gramps, geez," Issun grumbled, annoyed at how everyone was making such a fuss.

"If you don't stop the bleeding then you might end up dying of blood loss," Ishaku warned. He threw something towards them and Issun reached over to catch it, wincing as the wound in his side caused pain to split through him.

"What is it?" Issun asked as it landed in his hand, causing the white material to unravel. "Bandages?"

"You think any other place will have medication small enough for a poncle?" Ishaku tutted. "Bah, I'm sure you have a reason for racing off, so I'll leave you to it. No one's been able to stop you before." He reached out an arm and the wolf moved over to let him pat her muzzle. "It's good to see you too, Ammy."

"Anyways, we'd better be going," Issun concluded, nudging Amaterasu's ear. "Chibi's gonna be thinking we've abandoned him."

The goddess started a nod, and then suddenly remembered that he was injured and jerked back up again. Issun managed to stay on her head but he still lost his balance and fell backwards.

"Thanks for that, furball."

* * *

By the time they reached the edge of Yoshpet, Issun had managed to bandage the wound in his side and most of the scars on his arms. Then he'd run out of bandages. Still, at least he'd cleared up the worst of them.

It was then that he'd noticed shadowy figures heading towards them through the storm.

_More demons…?_

"Amaterasu, Issun! There you are!"

"Huh?" Issun blinked, watching as the shadows came closer. "That sounds like Oki…"

When the shadows got nearer Issun recognised Oki and Kai, with Chibi following them close behind.

"Blood!" Kai gasped.

"Will you people give it a rest already," Issun rolled his eyes. "It's no big deal. Old man Ishaku gave me some bandages, I'm fine."

"Wait, how did _you_ get wounded, Issun?" Oki tipped his head to one side in confusion. "Aren't you a bit small to get hurt any way other than being stepped on?"

"Fighting a tiny demon that was trying to wipe out Ponc'tan, what else?" Issun tutted. "Glad to see you're concerned, Oki. Speaking of which, I heard _you_ got wounded by some demons recently too."

"Yes, well," Oki shrugged. "Like you said, it's no big deal."

"No big deal!" Kai cried. "Old man Kemu forbade you to leave the village until you're completely healed! You should still be inside, not out here in the storm where it's freezing cold!"

"Hey, I didn't say you had to come with me," Oki grumbled. "That was your decision. And Chibi followed us."

The wolf puppy gave a bark, his tail wagging.

"Well, we know they're okay now, so let's go back to Wep'keer," Kai said, turning and heading back out of the forest.

Oki let out a long sigh as she turned back into a silhouette through the snow. "We'd better catch up to her just in case there are any demons around here."

As Chibi ran on ahead to walk alongside Kai, Ammy and Oki followed shortly after. Issun carefully tugged at her fur to get her to walk alongside the Oina warrior.

"Hey Oki, I haven't seen Kai look this worried before," he commented, looking up at the masked man. "What's up with her?"

"How should I know?" Oki shrugged, wading through the snow. "It's probably because you got wounded."

"She didn't seem that worried about me, though," Issun pointed out. A thought was beginning to cross his mind…

"Maybe she's just worrying more about other people now that she doesn't have to look after Lika as much. It's annoying that I have to be the one she puts all that worrying into, though."

"Hmm," Issun mumbled, amused at how oblivious Oki seemed to be. "Kai was there when you got hurt by demons, right? What did she do then?"

"Huh?" Oki blinked, obviously confused as to why Issun was asking him such a weird question. "Well, she demanded I went to see Tuskle, of course. She seemed pretty upset, even though the wound wasn't that serious. Why?"

"Wow, you really do know nothing about women," Issun laughed, wincing as that caused his side to hurt.

"What are you talking about, Issun?"

"It's so obvious!" the poncle chirped. "How can you not notice? Kai obviously has feelings for you."

"What!" Oki gasped, and Issun considered that underneath that blue mask his face had probably turned red, he sounded so embarrassed. "But she… I mean… it's not…"

"He's so naïve, huh, Ammy?" Issun glanced down at the wolf.

She gave a bark in agreement.

"Trust me, Oki," Issun smiled, leaning against Amaterasu's ear. "I know about these things."


	17. Evil Flame

**Noticing this story isn't getting as many reviews/comments/whateverFFcallsthemnow as it used to... is it cuz I'm uploading the chapters too fast? Or cuz it's summer? Maybe the story's just getting boring...**

**Also, this chapter title makes it seem like an episode of FMA...**

**Time to point out that Akukaen means "evil flame".**

**Also, look up the type of gem thing that crystal is made from. And then it will make sense. Probably.**

**Waka, how come as this story goes on you are gradually becoming less French?**

**Filler chapter is filler. Well kinda.**

**Good thing next chapter there should be some ACTION.**

**And I leave you with this thought: how on earth does Tuskle have a herb that's native to Africa?**

* * *

"Wait, so what does this stuff do again?"

"It's aloe. It should help to heal the wounds you got in the battle, and it might help with those burns as well."

"Oh, okay," Issun shrugged, watching as Tuskle broke the leaf in half and handed it to him. He'd have to try and work out how to apply it himself because he was too small for normal-sized humans to do it for him. He still couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing.

Chibi was curled up by the fire in Tuskle's house, his eyes half closed as he watched the flames rising up into the chimney. Ammy was outside somewhere, probably rolling in the snow to try and get rid of the bloodstains Issun had left on her fur. He still felt bad about that… but still, at least there was no harm done.

"How did you get burnt?" Tuskle asked as she sorted through a bunch of plants, putting them away so they wouldn't wilt.

"This creepy guy did it," Issun grumbled. "He somehow has this weird ability to burn stuff just using his hands."

"A demon?"

"He's not a demon. At least, I don't think he is." Issun shook his head. "But I don't get him. He's a human and somehow he managed to get to the Celestial Plain. It's so high up that humans shouldn't even be able to breath there. Not to mention it's really hard to get to that place."

"So an ordinary human somehow possesses these strange abilities?" Tuskle murmured, as if she was thinking. "Do you know if he has any powers besides that?"

"I… don't know," Issun shrugged a little helplessly. Waka would probably know more about that since he'd actually fought him. Issun had only seen the guy once. But the prophet was off somewhere in the main part of Nippon right now, so they couldn't ask him.

Not that Issun wanted to in the first place…

"He _might_ be able to teleport," he said eventually, remembering how Tero had simply vanished when he'd finished speaking to them and they hadn't seen him since.

Amaterasu padded through the doorway, shaking snow from her fur which was sticking out in all directions and as white as everything outside seemed to be at the moment, other than the crimson markings on her face and back.

"Had fun in the snow, furball?" he teased. He wanted to jump back onto her head but decided against it since her fur looked a bit damp from the snow. "Don't worry; I won't get blood on ya again. Tuskle's given me some stuff to heal the wounds and hopefully that darn Blight won't be coming back to life again."

Which begged the question; how _did_ that demon get resurrected?

"I think I've heard of powers like that before," Tuskle continued.

"Huh?" Issun blinked. He'd forgotten what they were talking about in the first place. "Oh, right, like that Tero guy. Don't tell me it runs in the family or something stupid like that."

"No, no, nothing of the sorts," Tuskle shook her head. "I heard of some kind of stone that could give people similar powers to that. I don't know much about it, other than that it was named the Akukaen Crystal."

"So you think Tero might have one of these weird crystal things?" Issun asked. "I guess that makes sense."

"I'm not sure," Tuskle continued evenly. "As far as I know, that crystal was just a legend. Apparently it was created a long time ago and destroyed shortly after, and no one has managed to make a replica of it yet. Maybe Samickle could tell you more about it; he's read a lot about those sorts of things."

"We gotta go ask cranky old Samickle for help," Issun grumbled. "Great. Ah well, thanks for telling us, Tuskle. C'mon, Ammy, Chibi, we'd better get back to Wep'keer."

Amaterasu let out a despondent sigh about having to go back outside into the snow again, and Chibi scrambled to his paws, letting out a loud yawn.

"After we find out more about this crystal we should probably head south," he shrugged, hopping onto Amaterasu's head and trying to ignore the fact that her fur was soaked. "While I've been battling demons, that darn prophet's probably lazing around in a tree somewhere, waiting for us to do all the work for him."

* * *

For once, Issun was partially right.

Waka was sat atop one of the cliffs at Ryoshima. It was a great place to survey the area. Ahead he could see the whole of Sei'an, behind him was the coastline. He'd crossed the whole of Nippon already and there didn't seem to be anything else to do but wait for Amaterasu to get here.

The city had changed in a few ways since he'd last been here, but it was still as busy and bustling as ever. He could see the figures wandering around the streets from here, and although there were many he couldn't recognise, there were a few he did: Dandy strolling along the path in his flamboyant western-style outfit; Mr. Flower standing in his garden talking to the cherry blossoms; and two figures making their way along the main street of the city that he recognised the second he spotted them.

_Kamo and Abe. The old Tao Troop._

Briefly he wandered what they had done when he left. As he'd never wanted anyone to know who he actually was, where he was from, he hadn't bothered trying to explain that he was leaving on a giant ark to go to the Celestial Plain. Who would believe him? His former followers probably assumed he was dead. If he hadn't needed to come back here, that probably would have been a good thing…

Ah well. Too late to change things now.

There were more guards than usual at the entrance to the city and patrolling around that region of the coast, so something must have happened recently, probably involving demons given the current situation in Nippon. Waka was considering that Moegami might have been slightly over-exaggerating when he'd told them about there being demons everywhere, but the gods could sense evil power and he couldn't, so maybe most of the evil was hiding somewhere. Still, considering how apprehensive the guards looked, there must have been some demons here at some point.

There were also plenty of places for demons to hide out in the Northern area of Ryoshima. That place was still in a mess from whatever the people there had been digging up, and there were rocks and rubble everywhere, causing a lot of shadows where anything might be lurking.

_Well, can't waste too much time just sitting around here. _It had been a while since he'd left the ark, so Amaterasu and the others were probably heading this way by now. Time to head back to Shinshu.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to find Samickle. As usual he was stood outside his house, watching over the village below. Issun wondered how he could even see anything through the snowstorm.

The Oina glanced around as they ran over. "Amaterasu and Chibi! What can I do for you?"

"Hey! Don't forget me!" Issun protested.

"And Issun," Samickle added, sounding less interested. "Anyway, did you come to say goodbye or did you want something?"

"Oh! Yes," Issun said, as if he'd forgotten why they were there in the first place. "You know anything about an Aku-something-or-other Crystal? Tuskle said you might have read about it."

Amaterasu let out a bark.

"Akukaen Crystal. That was it," Issun added.

"Akukaen? Yeah, I saw that in a book somewhere. It's supposed to be just a legend. Why?"

"Because we think some guy has one," Issun shrugged. "Any chance you could find the book you saw it in?"

Samickle cast a glance back at the village and let out a long sigh, as he were trying to decide whether he could risk leaving his apparent guard duties for even a few minutes. "Okay. I think I know where it is. You three might as well come in since there's still a snowstorm out here."

Samickle pushed open the door to his house and the others followed him into the candle-lit library. Issun still marvelled at how it could be possible for anyone to have so many books. Just about every wall was lined with shelves containing books and scrolls of all different shapes, sizes and colours.

The Oina warrior took a book from one of the shelves and flicked through the pages, causing a slight draft that caused the lights of the candles in the room to quiver slightly. He stopped suddenly.

"Here." He laid the book open on a table. "I need to watch over the village, so don't mess anything up in here, Issun."

"Why are you telling _me_?" Issun cried.

"Because I have the feeling that a couple of sun gods are more trustworthy than you are," Samickle shrugged, vanishing back out the door again.

"I really hate him sometimes," Issun sighed, jumping onto the slightly dusty table and over to the book so he could see what was written in it. Amaterasu walked over to see the book as well and Chibi tried to climb onto her back as he was too short to see over the table on his own. "Chibi, you don't even know how to read."

The wolf puppy dropped back down to all fours and sat down, letting out a dejected sigh.

Issun quickly scanned the page. "Says here that the Akukaen Crystal is a legendary rock created from a gemstone called sphalerite and… the blood of demons and gods?" he tipped his head to one side as he tried to work out what that meant. "I don't get it."

Amaterasu just blinked, clearly not understanding this any more than he did.

"Apparently only humans can create or use it. I guess we know that guy's a human then, at least," Issun shrugged. "It says it can give them powers like creating immense heat, and there are probably others as well but no one really knows because it's just a legend."

He looked to the two gods for help, but Amaterasu was sat with her head tipped to one side and Chibi just stared at him blankly.

"Bah. None of this makes sense," he sighed. "We lost that guy anyways. We'll worry about this crystal thing later."

With that, he jumped back onto the goddess' head, and the three of them headed back outside into the storm. Having weather constantly like this here in the North, Issun wanted to leave as soon as possible.

* * *

Kuni stared at the shiny surface of the water as it rippled against the sand. He'd been staying with Kokari, Karude and Ume for a few days now, and he was starting to get uncomfortable being around people all the time. He was too used to roaming the land on his own by now. Not to mention they were always letting him share their food even though he never found any himself.

He glanced across the grass to where Kokari was throwing twigs for Ume to fetch. Whether that was his way of collecting firewood it was hard to tell. "Hey, Kokari? I'm going to go and look for some food. Like, maybe some fruit or something." He never had got to eat that fruit he'd found in the forest the other day, although it had probably shrivelled up by now…

"Had enough of fish already?" Kokari teased, throwing another stick before turning to face him. "I'm not surprised. Just don't get eaten by an imp or anything like that."

"I won't," Kuni waved him off, heading into the trees.

* * *

"Ahh. It's good to be back, huh, Ammy?"

Issun was admiring the fields of Shinshu as they waited for Chibi to make his way down the cliff. It was no wonder that puppy hadn't been to Kamui before, considering how bad he was at climbing. Still, he was making good progress.

From here they could see most of the plains, including the Guardian Sapling that still stood strongly near the river and the lines of cherry blossom trees that marked the way to the village.

"We might as well pay ol' Kamiki a visit," Issun shrugged. _And go and find Sakuya. Heh heh…_

Amaterasu didn't give any means of reply. She was too busy staring off into the distance, sniffing.

"Ammy? What's the matter?"

Still no reply.

"If it's that prophet you're looking out for then he can wait. We've got more important things to do than wander around looking for a fruitcake like him."

The goddess looked around, taking Issun by surprise as he was nearly thrown off her head. Chibi had reached the grass now, looking very proud of himself.

"Right, Chibi's here now, so let's go- WHOA!"

He had to quickly grab for a hold on her fur as suddenly Amaterasu raced off at full speed, growling. Chibi yapped in surprise and sped after them, his little legs a blur as he tried his best to keep up.

"Ammy, what the heck is up with you?" Issun cried, holding onto her fur with one hand and keeping his beetle helmet in place with the other.

She stopped growling for a moment to give a bark.

"You can sense something?" Issun blinked. "Like, something evil?" He looked up to see where they were heading: the tunnel that lead to Agata Forest. "Ah well, guess Sakuya – I mean, Kamiki – will have to wait."

The grass and rocks flashed past as they sped across Shinshu Field, and they soon reached the tunnel. A year ago it had been a waterway, and some time before that there had even been a ferry that took people to the forest and back, but the water level had kept dropping until there was barely any water left in the tunnel at all other than a massive patch of mud. An earthquake a few months back had caused this tunnel to be blocked by rocks, but they had been cleared away now, allowing for people to pass through.

Issun didn't know much about sensing things, but there was definitely a weird smell in the air. It came on suddenly, as if it had only just appeared. It was a weird smell, like when Ammy used her inferno brush technique, or when Moegami was being a klutz and burnt something.

Amaterasu leapt up the small cliff which had once been a riverbank, so intent on getting to the forest quickly she didn't even wait to see if Chibi was keeping up. The weird smell was even stronger than before.

"What's going on?" Issun asked no one in particular.

It was only when they burst out of the tunnel and into daylight once more that he realised what was happening. It was almost hard to see the sky through the fog that was starting to form around them.

Except it wasn't fog.

There was a glow coming from somewhere deeper in the forest, blurred slightly by the heat and flickering light across the trees and water.

"What the-" Issun gasped, only ending up coughing because of the smoke.

_Fire! The forest is on fire!_


	18. Forest Fire

**Hmm... Ninetails seems to be becoming more of a main character that I first thought... ah well...**

**And now we have some ACTION.**

**Kind of.**

**I wish I knew how to write action scenes orz**

**This chapter was going to be longer but I cut it short due to not having much to put in the chapter after this... xD**

**But in the next chapter, the main part of the story will finally start! 8D**

**... So. Um. Yea.**

**An afterthought: KILL IT WITH FIRE.**

**And for beknown reasons I really don't like writing about Kuni...**

* * *

The nine-tailed fox stared down into the flames and smoke that adorned the forest below. He could sense that the fire was causing panic. Being a demon, this was the sort of thing he liked the most. Panic, confusion, pain, death… yet never before had he stopped and thought to question the reasoning behind his actions.

Using his demonic version of Amaterasu's celestial brush powers, he drew another fireball amidst the trees, causing the leaves to incinerate and the wood to go up in flame, the blaze quickly spreading through the thickly-foliaged forest. Would this really stop the goddess? He was supposed to just be trying to make her stay at Shinshu, but what if this was just supposed to be a distraction. So that Amaterasu would go after him instead of Tero. Quite frankly, Ninetails couldn't decide which of the two of them he despised the most.

His ears twitched as he saw something white move at the far side of the forest. So the goddess had arrived. Ninetails stepped back a few metres, concealing himself within the smoke so that the wolf hopefully wouldn't notice him or detect his scent. It was likely that Amaterasu would be able to put out the fire if he just left it unattended, so it was important that he stayed here to keep the flames going.

Red ink splashing onto the grass, he drew another inferno slightly deeper into the forest, causing another bunch of trees to combust and share the flames through their branches. Perhaps if he made the fire big enough then Amaterasu wouldn't be able to put it out after all.

There was one thing bothering him though, and that was the fact that he had this strange feeling that had been eating at him for a while now – fear. Why? He was a powerful demon; one of the _most_ powerful. He shouldn't have any reason to fear anything. But he did. He feared Tero, and he feared the goddess. Was it because he knew that both of them had the power to kill him? He'd already died twice, and he didn't want to die again…

Yes, that was it. They could kill him. Of course, Yami probably had the power to kill him as well. However, he knew that the demon lord was different. The other two would easily take his life from him without even batting an eyelid. And that was why he didn't trust Tero.

_You may have the power to order me around, _the fox demon thought, drawing another massive inferno amongst the trees. _But there's only one being I'm loyal to, and it certainly isn't you._

* * *

Issun found himself coughing on smoke and water as Amaterasu swam across the small lake, every so often her head going under, meaning the poncle was plunged into the water without notice. As she scrambled up one of the island banks he fell onto the grass, coughing up water.

"Can't I have some notice next time you go for a swim, furball?" he groaned, jumping back onto her head where the red and white fur was slicked back from the water. "And why the heck are we heading _towards_ the fire?"

Ammy gave a muffled whine and pointed with her nose to where something was moving through the water towards them. Something red and orange…

"Kokari!" Issun cried, recognising the boy immediately. "And Ume!"

The red Shiba was swimming strongly through the water – probably due to lots of practice – and had one end of a fishing rod in his jaws. Kokari was clinging to the other end with one hand and swimming with the other. When they reached the bank of the island, the goddess helped to drag the boy onto the grass.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Issun asked, hopping down to the ground and moving out of the way as Ume climbed onto the island and shook the water from his fur.

Kokari coughed and nodded. "I'm okay. Where's my dad?"

Issun searched the smoke-filled lake until he spotted something that looked like a bear swimming towards them. "He's coming, don't worry."

"Squiddy!"

The unfamiliar voice took him by surprise, and he glanced around to see who it was. Chibi had been trying to follow them and swim out to the island as well, though Issun hadn't noticed until now that he didn't really seem to be that good at swimming. Someone else floated over to him, moving so easily through the water it was almost creepy…

"Is that… a mermaid?" he blinked, noticing the long blue hair and fish-like tail.

"That's Nanami," Kokari shrugged, glancing over as he held out a hand to Karude to help him onto the island.

The mermaid swam Chibi over to land, and as soon as he was on the grass he turned to lick her face, his tail wagging.

"Ha ha! I've missed you too, Squiddy!" Nanami laughed, quickly breaking into a cough because of the smoke that was steadily starting to fill the air.

"We've got to get out of here," Karude warned, glancing at the spreading fire in alarm.

"Yeah," Issun nodded, jumping back onto the wolf's head. "C'mon, Ammy. We'd better bring the mermaid too or she'll suffocate in this darn smoke."

Nanami dragged herself up onto the grass. "Okay, but I might need a lift."

"Wait!" Kokari cried suddenly.

"What now?" Issun snapped. "I don't want to choke to death here!"

"Kuni's still out in the forest! I haven't seen him since the fire started…!"

"Kuni?" Issun blinked. "What's he doing here?"

The second the boy's name was mentioned, Chibi's eyes stretched wide. He raced across the grass and jumped back into the lake, splashing through the water until he reached the beach on the fire side and racing away into the trees, barking loudly.

"Squiddy!" Nanami cried.

Issun just stared in somewhat disbelief as the puppy disappeared through the smoke. Then he shook his head slightly, sending the antenna on his bug helmet swaying. "Ammy, let's get everyone else out of here. Chibi will be fine on his own. He is a god, after all."

After hesitating for a long moment which seemed to last forever, Amaterasu nodded.

As the six of them headed away from the flames, Issun couldn't help casting another glance back at where Chibi had vanished.

_You'd better be okay looking for Kuni alone, Chibi… stupid furball…_

* * *

Fire raged around in just about every direction, roaring as it clawed at the trees and caused everything it touched to go up in flames. Every so often there was a massive explosion from somewhere nearby, and the fire would spread even more, as if it was just being created rather than being left to feed on the wood of the trees.

Kuni weaved through the forest, breaking through any gap he could find in the flames as he tried desperately to reach the lake. He would have been able to find his way out before, but now because of the burning fire and thickening smoke every way he turned looked exactly the same, and there was no way of telling where he was.

_I have to get out of here! _He thought, coughing on the smoke, panic starting to set in. _If I don't, there's no way I'll live…_

The woods were like a maze now. Impossible to find your way out, if you touched the edges you'd get burnt for your efforts.

A tree root caught under his foot and he stumbled, landing among the leaves. Thankfully he hadn't landed in the fire. He tried to stand again, coughing heavily and his ankle hurting from where he'd wrenched it on the root. The forest was starting to spin.

_Don't tell me I'm going to die here…!_

As he fell back against one of the trees – luckily not a burning one, but dangerously close to the ones that were – he could hear something that sounded like barking not far off.

_Heh. I must be dying. That almost sounds like Mutt…_

* * *

_Kuni! Kuni! Where are you!_

Chibi sped across the forest floor as quickly as he could, calling forth the strongest Galestorm powers he could manage to disperse the flames. The wind ruffled his fur and dragged the smoke around even more, yet since he was running flat-out close to the ground he barely even noticed. His friend was in here somewhere, in danger, and he wasn't going to give up until he found him.

It was impossible to pick up any scents through all the smoke; Chibi didn't want to end up breathing any of it in. So how was he supposed to find Kuni?

Suddenly another bunch of trees nearby burst into flames and he was almost blasted away. This wasn't any natural fire. It looked like someone was creating it. In fact, Chibi had almost sensed something when the fire appeared… as if someone was using a Celestial Brush technique… but his mum couldn't be creating the fire, she'd gone with the others to help them get to safety. So who was it? Thoughts of that battle against Akuro's mirror form came back to mind…

That also reminded him that he still needed to find Kuni.

Then somewhere, amidst the flames and smoke, he sensed it. Someone was using the Celestial Brush. He couldn't tell what technique it was, but considering the circumstances it was probably Inferno… could he stop them from using it? Like he'd done when fighting Akuro?

Only one way to find out.

Chibi flicked his tail as if trying to do a power slash. Nothing happened. No power slash, no inferno. He'd blocked the technique.

Now all he needed to do was find his friend before it was too late…

* * *

"Stupid dog!" Ninetails growled quietly as his inferno failed. He didn't know who that puppy was. It was too small to be Amaterasu, but too powerful to be anything but a god…

The kitsune tried to create another fireball and once again his power was stopped. He let out a snarl of frustration.

Ah well. The fire was plenty big enough, covering at least a quarter of the forest and quickly spreading despite the young god's efforts to put it out. The puppy may look like Amaterasu but it was nowhere near as powerful as her. Ninetails would have liked the fire to have killed someone but it looked like that might not happen. As far as he could tell, everyone had escaped from the forest other than that wolf puppy. Unless he was looking for someone.

Well, at least the fox demon had succeeded in driving Amaterasu back the way she came…

Suddenly his ears twitched. There was someone else heading this way. And, unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to kill them.

It would be better to get away from here before they saw him then, in case they thought he was simply retreating from them out of cowardice.

Casting one last look down at the ruined trees of the forest, Ninetails turned and fled, fur glowing orange in the light of the fire.


	19. Defying God

**Something I noticed so far is that there seem to be a lot of parts to this story with the point of view of Issun, Waka, Chibi, Kuni... but there's only been one small section in Ammy's PoV. Weird.**

**Chapter after this was originally going to be THE KUNI CHAPTER, but for the sake of SHIZZ GOING DOWN it's getting put off an extra chapter xD**

**And now WE ARE GETTING TO THE CLIMAX.**

**... yaaaaaay...**

**And also hooray for Waka being French again. WE HAVE MISSED YOU, FRENCH WAKA.**

* * *

Chibi was starting to get desperate now. He'd given up on attempting at dispersing the fire because it was taking too long. Instead he just tried to dodge around the flames as best he could, and occasionally he felt them scorch his fur, but he barely noticed. He needed to find Kuni.

At least he hadn't sensed anyone creating more fire recently. Perhaps they'd left.

_Kuni! _He barked as loud as he possibly could, trying not to breath in the smoke. _Where are you? Are you okay? Wherever you are, I'm not leaving till I find you!_

He wasn't going to let another of his friends die.

His ears twitched. He could hear something other than the burning flames. It sounded like coughing…

_Kuni!_

Taking off in the direction of the sound, Chibi sped through the forest. Kuni was still alive. For now. He needed to reach him as soon as possible…

A snap.

Light flashed in front of him as a flaming branch crashed to the ground. This wasn't good. The fire was beginning to burn through the tree branches.

Chibi jumped back, narrowly avoiding running straight into the flames. He flicked his tail to create a gust of wind, putting out the branch, and jumped over it. His rescue mission seemed even more urgent now.

The forest flashed past. There was no way of telling where he was now. Any obvious landmarks were obscured by the smoke, which was gradually getting even thicker. The only clear way of seeing what surrounded him was by the orange and red light flickering off every tree or shrub.

Then he spotted something up ahead. Purple.

_That's… Kuni! Kuni! I'm here! _He started barking loudly again, this time ending up choking on the smoke, and tried to put on an extra burst of speed. The boy was stumbling along uneasily, leaning against any tree that wasn't in flame and coughing heavily.

At last, at a gap in his struggle for breath, Kuni glanced up, noticing the puppy speeding towards him. "Mutt…! Is… Is that you…?"

_Yes! Yes, Kuni, it's me! Mutt! I mean, I prefer being called Chibi, but Mutt is _your_ nickname for me so I don't mind!_

Another snap and a flash of light.

Chibi yelped. _Look out!_

A flaming log was hurtling towards the ground.

Right towards Kuni.

_Kuni!_

Running as fast as he possibly could, Chibi jumped and cannoned into Kuni, knocking him backwards. He felt the flames scorch the fur on his tail as the branch narrowly missed them both.

"It _is_ you! Mutt!" Kuni gasped, breaking off into a cough. "I think you've grown… you're crushing me…"

Realising he'd landed on top of his friend, Chibi jumped up, tail wagging. Now that the danger of getting hit by tree branches was momentarily over, he was glad to see his old friend. He looked smaller than before, and at first Chibi wondered if that was because he himself had grown, but it wasn't just that… Kuni looked a lot skinnier too.

Well, they could catch up later. Right now they needed to get out of the forest.

Chibi nudged Kuni's shoulder and tipped his head back slightly. Kuni translated the motion immediately, climbing onto Chibi's back. He was lighter than before as well. What had happened to him in the few months since he'd seen him last?

As soon as Kuni found his balance, Chibi raced away through the trees, once again using Galestorm to get rid of the flames so he didn't have to dodge around them incase Kuni fell off. He wasn't sure which way would lead out of the forest, but as long as he kept running in the same direction they had to find a way out eventually. Right?

His theory was proven incorrect as he skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding running straight into a wall of stone. This was the bottom of the cliff that surrounded Agata.

"We just… need to follow the cliff and we'll find a way out," Kuni choked, breaking off into a cough part way through what he was saying. He pointed right. "I think it's that way."

Chibi nodded, heading in that direction and hoping the fire hadn't created too many obstacles to block their way.

Eventually he spotted something in the distance; at first it looked like another bunch of trees, but as they got closer he realised it was the damaged fence marking the way to Taka Pass.

Relief flooding through him, Chibi sped along the path as they finally made it out into fresh air.

* * *

"Mon dieu! What on earth happened here?" Waka asked no one in particular as he looked down at the flames in the forest below. The smoke rising from the fire made him cough and he stepped back.

Was Amaterasu here yet? He had the feeling she was. In which case, this fire was far too much of a coincidence…

He could see Chibi and a boy heading for Taka Pass, so at least they were safe. It looked like they had been in the midst of the fire for a while. But Chibi was running quickly, not slowing down to look back, so there probably wasn't anyone left in the fire – which he knew of.

He hadn't noticed Amaterasu on the way here, so the chances were she was back at Shinshu. So that was where he was heading for now.

Briefly he wondered whether he should do something about the fire – or whether there was even anything he _could_ do. The blaze had spread quite far. Even Amaterasu would have trouble trying to put out those flames. But the smoke was starting to rise up to the sky, creating ominous-looking clouds that threatened rain. If someone didn't put the fire out soon it would be quenched naturally.

But flying straight through Agata like he'd done before would be suicidal with the fire burning below. He'd just have to go the long way around.

* * *

As soon as they reached Taka Pass, Mutt slowed his pace, walking along the dust path. Both the tea shop and the merchant stand were deserted, probably because of the fire. Kuni could still smell the smoke that was filling the forest, and his coughing wasn't getting any better. He could tell that Mutt wasn't totally unaffected either, his breathing sounding a little ragged, but he didn't stop walking to catch his breath after the mad rush to get away from danger. Every so often the puppy glanced around, as if he were looking for something. Or perhaps somewhere. He started to wander towards the tea shop.

"Mutt, there's no one around," Kuni pointed out, still coughing. "If we're going to rest somewhere we should get further away from the fire."

Mutt hesitated, glancing further into the plains where there was nothing but grass, trees and rocks.

"It's okay, I'm used to not having any shelter."

The wolf puppy tipped his head to one side, letting out a confused bark.

"Well… let's just say when I went on my journey to find out who I was, I wasn't very successful." Hazy memories were always fogging up his mind, like the smoke from the fire, but they were too faded for him to remember what they were about. "Don't worry about me, Mutt. There are probably people worse off than I am."

Knowing that Mutt probably wasn't entirely convinced, Kuni ruffled his ears.

"Come on, let's go find somewhere to rest. You don't have to carry me, I can walk if you want."

Then he realised that Mutt didn't seem to be listening to him anymore. He was looking at something further along the path, a quiet growl rising in his throat. What was he looking at?

Kuni followed the puppy's glare, noticing a man heading along the path towards them. He was a rather strange-looking man, with dreadlocked hair and a long black coat. Was he heading to Agata? Hadn't he noticed the smoke rising from it, making the sky cloud over?

Ominous clouds in the sky… why did that seem so familiar?

"Erm, if you're heading to the forest, it might be a bit dangerous at the moment…" Kuni spoke up. He couldn't tell if the man even heard him at first.

Eventually he replied, his voice cold and menacing. "Dangerous? Maybe for weaklings like you. Who'd have thought the descendants of Nagi could be so pathetic."

"Huh?" Kuni blinked, watching as the man glared at him as he walked past. Mutt's growl turned into a vicious snarl that wasn't very effective since he was still only a puppy. _The descendants of Nagi? But I'm not-_

Then he gasped. That man…

Now he remembered.

"That's…" he glanced back at the path leading to Agata, but the man had already vanished. Kuni continued to stare at the empty path as memories unfolded in his mind, breaking through the fog until it felt like his whole brain might override and cause him to pass out.

He was snapped back to reality when Mutt gave a high-pitched bark.

Kuni blinked and shook his head, realising that Mutt was trying to glance up at him, as if asking what was wrong.

"I… I'm okay…" he stammered. "But… I think… I think I remember who I am now…"

* * *

Issun watched as Kokari, Karude, Ume and Nanami headed towards Kamiki, the mermaid hitching a lift on the dog's back. They were going to try and stay there until the fire was over and it was safe to go back to Agata. From the look of the sky it was probably going to rain soon and the fire would get put out naturally.

"Think Chibi's okay?" Issun thought aloud, only half asking Amaterasu. "He can use Galestorm and waterspout, right?"

Ammy nodded, glancing back in the direction of the forest. She wanted to make sure her son was alright…

"It's a bit dangerous to go back there," Issun shrugged, though secretly he was just as worried about Chibi as she was - and Kuni as well. Had the puppy managed to find him? Or were they both lost somewhere in the fire?

"Bonjour, ma chérie!"

"Gah!" Issun practically had a heart attack as Waka landed on the grass next to them. "Stupid half-baked prophet! Must you always creep up on us like that?"

"Maybe you should just pay more attention to what's going on around you, my little bouncing friend," Waka smiled. "Had enough of the Kamui weather, I see?"

"Like you're one to talk," Issun tutted. "For your information, Chibi's currently getting roasted somewhere in the forest! Or didn't you care?"

"Chibi's fine. I saw him heading for Taka Pass with a child."

"Guess he found Kuni then," Issun muttered. "Well, Agata's off limits until the rain puts out that fire, so we're heading to Kamiki. If you're planning on following us then just stay as far away from me as possible."

"Charming," Waka rolled his eyes.

As they headed towards the village, Issun still seething over how much the prophet annoyed him, Amaterasu stopped so suddenly that he was thrown forwards. Luckily he didn't fall off her head for once. Her ears twitched, as if she was hearing something.

"Ammy, what-"

He was interrupted by a loud bark, carrying a message that he realised wasn't really aimed at him.

_Look out!_

He fought to keep his balance as the goddess jumped aside, just milliseconds before a bunch of giant rockets exploded on the ground where they'd just been standing.

"What the heck!" Issun cried. Dust and smoke mixed together now rose from a scrape in the ground. Ammy glanced back, letting out a faint whimper. Issun knew she was making sure Waka had got out of the way in time. Honestly, Issun didn't really care, but knowing that prophet he probably had.

"Master, I thought we weren't supposed to kill them!"

Issun gasped. That voice. It sounded familiar. Disgustingly familiar. The last time he'd heard that voice, they'd been on a demon island in the middle of the sea near Ryoshima…

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," Waka muttered, appearing from somewhere next to them once more, though Issun was too busy looking across Shinshu to notice how he got there.

There was something that looked like a massive metal sphere with a hand attached, floating in the air on the other side of the plains. A few metres away from it stood a fox with loads of tails.

"You've got to be kidding me," Issun grumbled. "That fox wretch got brought back to life as well? And what the heck is _that_ thing supposed to be?"

Ammy seemed to know what it was, but she didn't give a reply. She was staring at the two creatures, growling loudly. But if Issun knew one thing, it was that the demons couldn't be here for a good reason…

* * *

Waka froze as he noticed the demons across the grass. How was this possible? Amaterasu had _defeated_ them last year. Had they somehow come back to life again?

"Yami," he said, finally answering Issun's question seeing that Amaterasu wasn't going to give an answer herself. "That's the demon that Amaterasu defeated before peace was restored."

"Wait, so that's the demon that nearly killed Ammy?" Issun asked, sounding somewhat disbelieving. "It's just a floating piece of junk!"

"Yami is a lot more powerful than he looks, Issun," Waka warned. And he should know. Not only had the demon nearly killed Amaterasu, it had nearly killed him as well. He could still remember getting hit by the laser, falling, hitting the cold stone floor of the ark…

And not to mention, Yami had been the one who slaughtered all of the celestials in the ark. He didn't deserve to be brought back to life. No demon did.

"Ah, well if it isn't the little goddess Amaterasu. So glad you finally decided to show your face."

The wolf gave a confused grunt as someone else appeared, standing a little way in front of the demons. It was that man again. Tero.

"What the heck is that creep doing here!" Issun cried, jumping up.

Almost the second Tero appeared, Amaterasu shot forwards, not even noticing that the poncle was thrown from her head, landing in the grass nearby. The goddess sped across the grass at top speed, reaching the enemy within seconds, swinging around her solar flare and ready to hit the man.

Not seeming at all worried – or even slightly concerned – Tero held out one hand, and Amaterasu crashed into the barrier with a growl, her attack deflected as well as her. Her claws left score marks in the ground as she was flung back and quickly regained her balance.

"Ammy!" Issun shouted.

"I'd have thought a god would be more powerful," Tero growled, his voice just as spiteful as Waka remembered. He could almost feel the wounds he'd given him starting to sting again.

"You creep!" Issun spat. "Why the heck are you here? If those demons rip you apart don't think we're gonna help you!"

"And why would they do that?" Tero smirked. "They're working for me. I did bring them back, after all."

_He can revive demons that were killed? _Waka's eyes narrowed. He'd never seen anyone do that before. Yet it seemed the proof was right in front of them.

"Of course, I guess naturally you want to know why I'm here. I'm just doing a little… hunting, shall we say. For gods."

Amaterasu growled, looking like she was preparing to attack him again.

"Now then," Tero clicked his fingers and Ninetails stepped aside, revealing something that looked like a cage made of metal bars. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is, you just get in that cage over there and surrender."

"Hah, like Ammy would be stupid enough to do that!" Issun snapped. "Get him, Ammy!"

The goddess lunged forward, ready to try slicing the man in half with her reflector again, but this time Tero just vanished. Amaterasu's weapon cut a grove in the grass.

Waka couldn't tell what was going on. But whatever Tero was here for, he was after Amaterasu. And he'd made a promise to himself that he was going to protect her.

He was about to draw his sword when he noticed Yami's armour move, revealing the glass orb that housed the foetus. The demon curled tighter into a ball. Waka knew what that meant.

"Amaterasu, look out!" he shouted. Then he realised that it wasn't her that Yami was aiming for.

The beam of light shot through the air, but luckily since they were so far away both Waka and Issun had enough time to dodge the laser. The heat from it seared the grass in a neat line, and the draft it created probably sent the poncle flying.

The second he landed, Waka didn't even get a chance to wonder what was going on before he was suddenly dragged backwards, losing his balance. There was a flash of silver, and the next thing he knew he was trapped, unable to escape and a sword held against his neck, threatening to slit his throat.

"Guess we'll have to do things the hard way then," Tero sighed in mock annoyance. "Amaterasu, I suggest that you surrender. Unless, of course, you don't mind your friend here losing his life."


	20. Life or Death

**Whew. Okay apparrently I wrote all of this in a day. I really need to write slower xD**

**Finally, Ammy's PoV. And... it's not much different to anyone else really...**

**Wow, Issun. You really hate Waka don't you...**

**On another note, when writing in Kuni's PoV it's hard to remember to call Chibi "Mutt" all the time... Kuni why couldn't you have listened when Issun called him Chibi... you're making your PoV annoying to write in...**

**You can tell I had too much fun writing this chapter.**

**Hopefully the next one will take longer to write since it's THE KUNI CHAPTER. And we shalt be going BACK IN TIME.**

**LIKE A DOCTOR.**

* * *

Amaterasu froze as she took in what Tero had said.

_Surrender, unless you don't mind your friend losing his life._

What could she do? There was nothing she could do. That was what.

She stared, frozen to the spot. She couldn't even tell if she was breathing or not. The sound of her heart beating thudded in her ears like she was underwater.

This was the first time ever that she had truly not known what to do.

This stranger, this Tero guy… Ammy had borne a grudge against him ever since she suspected him of being the one who had nearly killed Waka, and had proof of him being the one who hurt Issun… but now she hated him even more. It just wasn't fair…

The prophet was struggling to break free, but Tero was stronger than he looked. Waka was caught, and there wasn't any way for him to escape on his own. He'd dropped his flute as soon as Tero caught him and if he tried to unsheathe his katana then Tero would probably kill him before he had the chance to inflict any kind of injury. Issun was trying to scramble to his feet at least five metres away from them, but he was too wounded to be able to do anything to help – and he probably wouldn't want to. And by the time Amaterasu would be able to get over there to fight Tero, the man would have already slit Waka's throat.

There really was nothing she could do. Other than just give up. What did Tero want with her?

"Hurry up, we haven't got all day," Tero snapped, glaring at the goddess.

She couldn't help but notice Waka flinch as the sword started to cut into his neck, drawing blood. He'd given up struggling, knowing there was no way of escaping. She just about stifled a whimper, casting a glance back at the cage.

"Ammy, no! Don't do it!" Issun screamed. "You don't know what this creep's thinking! Don't give in to him, you stupid furball!"

She'd never heard him sound so desperate. Was it because he knew that she couldn't stand by and watch Waka getting killed?

The sword cut in deeper, blood staining the front of Waka's kimono. Tero was trying to tell the goddess that if she didn't decide quickly then he was going to decide for her…

Her eyes met the prophet's, filled with pain and fear but as the same time… resolve.

He didn't want her to surrender, and he didn't care if that meant his death.

But she did.

_I'm sorry…_

She turned hesitantly, glancing at the cage. So this was the only way to save Waka…

"Ammy!" Issun wailed, finally managing to get back to his feet after hitting the ground. "Don't surrender to them! Please!"

_But there's nothing else I can do…_ trying to block out the poncle's voice, she padded over to the cage.

"AMMY!"

She glared at Ninetails as she walked past. He returned the glare. The second she stepped into the cage, the sudden feeling of tiredness came over her, as if she'd been running for days and had no energy left…

Her crimson markings were fading. So was her Solar Flare. After a few seconds the drained feeling lifted, and she was left looking like an ordinary white wolf. The fox demon kicked the door of the cage shut, sealing it closed.

"AMMY, NO!"

She hung her head, pressing her ears back and trying to block out the sound of Issun's cries.

_I'm sorry… this was the only way…_

* * *

Issun punched the ground in anger at his uselessness. Stupid prophet. Stupid Ammy. Stupid him! The blast of the laser had flung him aside and slammed him into the ground, and now his wounds hurt more than ever. He could tell that at least one of them had re-opened. But he didn't care about that right now.

The second the cage slammed shut, Tero laughed. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He let go of Waka and the prophet collapsed on the grass, gasping for breath.

"Ammy!" Issun shouted again, if that would somehow open the cage and free the goddess. Which, of course, it didn't.

Tero strode back over the cage, resting one hand on the bars like he was admiring his catch, quickly drawing his hand away as the wolf tried to sink her teeth into him. She might have lost her powers but she wasn't completely defenceless.

"Hey, Tero!" Issun snapped. "What do you want with Ammy anyways?"

"Oh, not much. Only to get rid of her."

_Get rid of her…? _"Y-you mean…"

"I don't suppose there's much harm telling my plans to you since everyone will know soon anyway. I'm going to kill your stupid little goddess here in front of everyone in Nippon. Imagine the respect and fear people would have for someone with the power to kill a god."

Issun felt the ground underneath him lurch. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. This guy was crazy. It was hard to believe he wasn't a demon. He was going to kill Ammy for something as sick and twisted as that…

There was no way Issun could let him get away with this.

"You stupid pathetic freak!" he spat, anger bringing the strength back to him as he hopped along the grass towards them.

"I'll leave you to it," Tero shrugged, casting a glance at Yami and Ninetails as he casually walked off, his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"Why you-" Issun started, breaking off as he noticed Yami releasing another bunch of rockets which were heading straight for him. He dived aside, taking cover behind a large rock. Bits of grass and dirt sprayed over the ground as the rockets exploded, and as soon as the ground has stopped shaking he jumped up onto the massive stone.

But Yami, Ninetails and the cage with Amaterasu had vanished.

"Dammit!" Issun yelled, his voice sounding even more high-pitched than usual. He unsheathed his pin-like sword and sliced it across the rock in frustration, leaving a small line in the stone.

What was he supposed to do now?

Somehow he had to stop Tero from succeeding in his plan. And there was no way he'd be able to do that on his own.

Glancing behind him, Issun realised that Waka was still collapsed on the ground. Some of the grass around him was stained with blood, so the wound Tero had given him must have been more than just a paper cut.

Still, it would take a lot more than that for Issun to pity him.

"Hey, prophet!" he snapped, hopping back along the grass and jabbing the prophet in the arm with his sword to get him to wake up. "Don't you dare die on me! Then Ammy will have been captured by those freaks for nothing!"

It took a moment for Waka to respond. Issun was about to stab him again when he finally twitched. "Issun…?"

The poncle rolled his eyes. "Get up, you idiot."

Waka pushed himself up into a sitting position, holding one hand to his neck. One glance at all the blood and he seemed to remember what happened. "What… where's Amaterasu?"

Issun could feel the rage starting to rise inside him again. Mainly because he didn't know if Waka was genuinely not sure what was going on or whether he was just pretending, to annoy him. "That Tero freak's captured her, that's where she is, you stupid half-baked moron! And now he's trying to go through with some stupid plan to kill her in front of everyone in Nippon. This is all your fault, fruitcake! If it wasn't for you, Ammy would never have given in to those guys!"

That was probably the first time Issun had ever seen Waka look genuinely hurt by anything he'd said.

Good. He deserved it.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and the first few raindrops started to fall to the ground. It was as if even the weather was crying over the capture of the goddess. At least the fire in Agata Forest would get put out now…

Issun let out a long sigh. He had to try and find something optimistic before he ended up in danger of completely freaking out over the situation. It seemed like he'd already lost Waka, who was sat staring at the place where they'd last seen Amaterasu. So for the moment, Issun was just going to ignore him.

Tero wanted to kill the goddess in front of everyone in Nippon, which meant that hopefully she wasn't in any immediate danger – at least, not of dying. If he intended to have a large audience then he'd have to try and gather all the people of Nippon here… and that might take a while. But what were they supposed to do in the meantime? He didn't even know where Ammy was being hidden until then.

They'd just have to think of something before Tero executed his plan. And Ammy.

"I'm going to Kamiki," he muttered, turning and wandering towards the village, in too much of a gloomy mood to jump. "Come on, prophet. Ammy will never forgive me if I leave you here to bleed to death in the rain."

* * *

On the other side of the forest, Mutt and Kuni had taken shelter in a cave in Taka Pass as soon as it started raining. There was a tunnel leading back out to the fields, and another one at the top of a wooden slope that probably opened out somewhere on the cliffs. A couple of young foxes were wandering around, but they ran to hide in the grass when the two of them arrived.

Kuni climbed onto one of the smooth boulders that were dotted around the cave. Mutt scrambled up next to him, his claws scrabbling against the rock as he tried to find some grip, and eventually Kuni had to help him by hauling him up by his scruff. They heard the thunder rumbling overhead, and Mutt glanced around, his ears twitching.

"It's okay, it's nice and dry in here," Kuni pointed out. "Well, so long as neither of us falls in the water."

In any other situation, he would have been telling Mutt all that happened since he'd seen him last, but under his circumstances that didn't seem like a good idea. How would the puppy take the news that Kuni had been living rough for the past few months? He didn't know where Mutt had been, either, but something told him that would be even harder to find out.

Yet he was also distracted, by memories he'd never before been able to remember. They'd all resurfaced when they'd seen that man earlier. And now he realised why.

_It doesn't really change anything. I can't go back to how I was before. And Susano no longer wants me as his son…_

"Hey, Mutt…?" he started, watching the water as another rumble of thunder caused the surface to ripple. "Do you think… that you could help me with something? I don't know what to do."

Mutt tipped his head to one side curiously. He was listening.

"Well… it kinda has a long story behind it," he shrugged. Would Mutt hear him out? "I remember what happened now. Before I went to live with Susano and Kushi. But… I don't know what to do now that I know. You don't have to listen if you don't want to."

Mutt gave a quiet bark that echoed slightly in the cave, and nodded. Kuni was his friend. He wanted to help him if he could. Even if all he had to do was listen to his story.

"O… Okay," Kuni gave a half-hearted smile. "I'll tell you what happened..."


	21. A Past Recovered

**Wow... compared to the others, this chapter took ages to write. Probably because I don't like writing about Kuni. Even past!Kuni.**

**Why lookie here I'm screwing with his past for the sake of the story 8'D**

**Whether it seems legit, well... that shall be in the eye of the reader.**

**So will the decision of whether that sentence was legit.**

**Now if they ever make an Okami 3 we shall see how incredibly weird my version seems yaaaay.**

**No fair Tero, I want a pet giant salamander... but you wanna know what's ironic? After I created that demon, I went to Wikipedia to see whether salamanders really looked anything like that, and apparrently the kind of salamander that demon is is called a "fire salamander".**

**Irony.**

**Also, I have reached my initial target of 100 pages for this story~! Not sure what the target is now... just finish the story I guess xD**

**I'd say we're around... eh, 2/3 of the way through? Maybe?**

**Also Kuni is supposedly telling Chibi/Mutt/THAT GOD the story as it goes along, but if I wrote it like that it'd end up faaar too short xD**

**Now then... let the past commence...**

* * *

"Not very good weather for travelling, is it?"

Fine rain sprinkled down from the sky, making tiny ripples on the surface of the water that were barely visible due to the waves the wind created. Kuni – then called Reizo – watched the land on the horizon with interest. Nippon. This would be the first time he'd ever been there.

He and his parents were travelling to the foreign land to see his uncle who lived there. He'd never met him, but apparently he looked a lot like their ancestor, Nagi.

"You excited to meet your uncle, Reizo?" his mother asked.

"Yeah!" he smiled.

"We haven't seen him in years," his father laughed. "I doubt he even knows we have a son!"

"I wonder if Nippon has changed much since I was last there," his mother mused, glancing out towards the land on the horizon. "It looks just as I remember from here."

"Must have been at least ten years," his father added. "Was there this much rain the last time you were here?"

Leaving his parents to their typical banter, Reizo wandered off to explore the ship. It was a large wooden vessel with plenty of rooms for the passengers to stay in during long journeys. The ship's crew milled around, getting on with their duties while chatting with anyone on board.

Reizo wandered over to the back of the ship, watching his homeland disappear into the rain as they got further away from it. He'd see it again in a few weeks when they returned.

To avoid making himself homesick – or seasick – he turned his attention back to the ship. The large cream-coloured sails dragged in the wind, propelling the ship towards Nippon. He couldn't wait to get there and explore.

* * *

"So, they're heading to Nippon, are they? What perfect timing."

From atop the cliffs of the island, a man sat watching as the boat floated out of the port and steadily made its way to the foreign land. He pulled his black coat tighter around his shoulders. It was cold out here in the rain. The massive lizard-like creature beside him seemed unaffected, large round eyes seeing everything in a 360-degree radius and a forked tongue flicking out of its mouth every now and then.

"You know what your job is, don't you?" Tero asked the salamander demon.

Snake-like eyes fixed on him, and the demon tipped its head to one side, blinking.

"Forgotten _already_? Honestly, you have the memory of a goldfish," he tutted, rolling his eyes. "Keep an eye on that boat. It's heading for the west coast of Nippon. Apparently there's a Water Dragon that usually protects that place and something has caused it to go berserk. A lot of trading ships have already been sunk by it, so the chances are this tourist boat will get attacked as well. All you need to do is get onto that ship while it's sinking and find the child related to Nagi."

The lizard let out a clicking sound, tipping its head to the other side.

"There aren't a whole lot of travellers to Nippon from around here. He should be the only child on board."

Looking back at the boat again, the demon flicked its tongue and nodded.

"Good. When you find him, bring him to the cave."

He watched as the salamander demon made its way along the cliff until it reached a lower section, then dropped down three metres into the water, swimming off in pursuit of the boat.

* * *

The rain was starting to get heavier now. Most of the other passengers on the boat had retreated inside to the shelter, but Reizo was too excited. He wanted to watch Nippon, see it getting closer and count down the minutes till they reached land.

"Lad, you'll be catching a cold if you stay out in this weather for too long!" one of the crew called, smiling.

"I'm okay," Reizo replied absently, still watching the horizon. He could just make out a large tree on a cliff… but it didn't seem to have any leaves on it. As a matter of fact, the closer they got to Nippon, the gloomier it seemed… was something wrong there?

"Well, don't you go freezing yourself to death in the rain," the sailor joked, heading back inside.

Reizo continued to watch the coastline, trying to work out if Nippon was really all that dreary-looking or whether it was just because he'd imagined the place to look so much brighter. Ah well. He'd know when they got there.

Maybe he should go inside now. The rain was getting even heavier and the waves were making an awful lot of noise in the wind.

It hadn't occurred to him that there might actually be something in the water.

One of the crew shouted a warning before he even had the chance to react. There was something snaking through the waves towards the boat, like some kind of giant eel. It was at least three times the length of the ship. Reizo just froze. Whatever this was, surely it wasn't going to crash straight into the ship?

The strange creature rose up out of the water, opening its mouth and letting out a ferocious roar, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the low light. The sound brought a few of the passengers back out onto the decks, and the second they saw the monster, pandemonium broke out. People screamed, running to find their families and hiding out of sight inside the wooden shelter.

Yet still Reizo found he was unable to move. That thing… what _was_ it?

He snapped back to reality as soon as the creature hit the side of the boat.

Splinters flew through the air as the side of the boat caved in, and the whole ship lurched violently, causing him to lose his balance and fall over, the hard wooden floor of the boat momentarily stunning him. Around him the other passengers were panicking. The crew of the boat raced out onto the decks, some of them carrying weapons as if they were going to try and ward the monster off.

The dragon-like creature crashed into the boat again, sending it swaying on the growing waves. A splinter of wood narrowly missed his face, and as he tried to dodge another one it caught his arm, scratching him and drawing blood.

Not wanting to get hit again, Reizo tried to head for the far end of the ship. Hopefully the crew could sort out that monster. But what if they couldn't? There were already waves splashing over the edges of the ship, soaking into the wooden decks. What would happen if the boat sank?

There were more screams from up ahead. He assumed it was just because of the thing attacking the boat.

As he reached the far deck, he skidded to a halt – and immediately was almost thrown over as the boat lurched again. There was something else on the ship.

A large yellow and black lizard was slithering over the barrier at the back of the ship, causing everyone nearby to panic and run. It looked around, a forked tongue flicking out of its mouth and its tail swiping over the deck, tripping over a few passengers and smashing a gap in the side of the boat.

It almost seemed like it was looking for something…

Then suddenly its eyes locked onto him.

In that moment, Reizo decided he'd rather take his chances against the giant creature that was attacking the other side of the boat…

He turned and tried to run back the other way, but the ship lurched once more, making him lose his balance and fall again. The ground left him dazed for a moment, then as he finally attempted to get back to his feet again something closed around him.

The salamander demon had caught him.

As the demon picked him up in its large mouth, its teeth digging into his sides, he struggled to break free with no avail.

"Help!" he screamed, thinking with fear that the demon was going to eat him.

Strangely, though, it didn't. The more he struggled, the tighter he got clamped in the jaws as the demon tried to make sure he didn't escape, but it wasn't trying to crush him.

A few of the braver passengers on the boat tried to attack the demon, in the hope that it would let the boy go. But the giant salamander simply flicked them aside with its tail and headed for the gap in the barrier it had created earlier.

They were heading for the water.

_No!_

He struggled more than ever, but still the demon barely even seemed to notice. Its skin was covered in weird slime that probably absorbed the impact of him hitting or kicking it.

The giant salamander hesitated for a moment as the boat rocked from the impact of the other creature attacking it. Then it dived over the edge of the boat.

"No!" Reizo cried, his shout cut off as he was plunged into the water. The salt made the cut on his arm sting, as well as his eyes. He couldn't breath.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the ship steadily sinking down into the water, everyone else still on board, and half of the passengers, including his parents, still trapped inside the boat.

* * *

Tero sat in a cave hidden within the forest, listening to the sound of the small campfire he'd made in the centre of the stone room and staring at the stone he held in his hand. A while ago it had been an orange colour, but now it was as black as the night. Hopefully soon it would turn a flaming red.

He was trying to create a legend; the Akukaen crystal. People were undecided as to whether it really existed or not, but he believed it did. He'd already managed to complete the first stage of creating one, so that was proof enough for him. Demon blood had given the crystal its ominous black colour. Now all that needed to be added was the blood from a god.

Unfortunately, blood from a god was very hard to come across. For one, you'd have to find a god in the first place… and for another, you'd have to somehow get some blood from it, which would mean wounding it. And how could a measly human fight a god and win?

So he had put some thought into it and decided to try the next best thing. Hopefully using the blood from someone who was respected in the same way as a god would have the same effect. Since Nagi was long dead by now, he'd have to settle with just using the blood of someone who was related. And hopefully that person would be here soon…

A few minutes later, there was a noise from somewhere outside the cave and the demon made it's way inside, carrying an unconscious child in its mouth.

Tero's eyes narrowed. "He's not dead, is he?"

The giant salamander shook its head.

Good. If the boy was dead then there might have been less chance of the blood working. The demon placed the child in front of him like a dog returning a stick to its master.

"Now then," Tero muttered. "After all that trouble, this had better work."

* * *

Reizo started to recover his senses slowly. He could hear a fire crackling nearby, and he was lying on something cold and hard, like stone.

_Where am I…?_

He forced his eyes to open. At first his vision was blurred, and he could only see smudges of grey and orange. Then as he managed to focus on his surroundings, he noticed the demon that had taken him from the boat, as well as a man he hadn't seen before.

"Who… who are you?" Reizo asked, his voice shaking.

The man glanced at him but didn't reply. He was sat by the fire, looking at a black stone that was placed in the centre of a piece of slate over the flames, and holding something over it that looked like a piece of moss.

It took him a moment to realise that the moss was a strange colour. Red. Like it was soaked with blood.

Was it… _his_ blood?

Almost unconsciously, Reizo's hand flew to the cut he'd got on his arm earlier, and he was brought back to reality as the impact caused it to start stinging again. It hadn't even completely stopped bleeding yet. So the blood in the moss probably _was_ his…

But what did this man want with his blood?

Realising he probably had no intention of explaining anything to him, Reizo just watched as the red liquid dripped down onto the jet-black stone. It seemed like the man was expecting something to happen.

Nothing. No change whatsoever.

What was supposed to happen…?

The man let out a long sigh. "Well, so much for that plan."

The salamander demon made a clicking sound and tipped its head to once side, then glanced towards Reizo.

Tero caught the glance and glared at the boy. "Well, I guess we have no need for this child anymore." He drew a sword from one of the sheaths at his side.

Reizo gasped.

_No need for me anymore…_

_He plans to kill me!_

It didn't even take him a millisecond to decide what to do next.

Reizo scrambled to his feet and raced out of the cave.

Tero watched him go, eyes narrowed. "Well, at least I don't have to deal with that brat now. He'll only end up getting himself killed anyways."

* * *

Trees and bushes flashed past as Reizo raced through the forest, his arm still dripping blood and thorns catching on his clothes.

What was he supposed to do now?

Tears brimmed in his eyes as he realised everything that had happened. His parents were probably dead. He hadn't seen them when the monster attacked the boat so they must have still been inside when the boat sank…

Every single noise around him made him think he was being followed, either by that man or the salamander demon. For now, all he could do was run. He had to get away. Find somewhere safe.

The suddenly the ground fell away from underneath him.

He burst through a bush to find nothing but the sea beyond, screaming as he fell down five metres of cliff and splashed into the water below. He felt his head smash against rock.

Then he blacked out.

* * *

"The next thing I knew, I woke up in the shrine," Kuni shrugged, still staring at the water in the pool below. "I couldn't remember anything that had happened before then. Until now, that is."

For a moment everything was silent, other than the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. The storm was getting further away now.

Kuni felt something nudge his arm and turned to see Mutt pressing against his side, letting out a quiet whimper. He'd listened to the whole thing. For some reason, that made Kuni feel a little better…

"Thanks for listening, Mutt," he smiled, stroking the wolf's head. "But I don't think me remembering all of that changes anything. I mean, it's not as if I can go back to live with my parents. They died on the ship."

Mutt glanced up at him and gave a quiet bark. He glanced at one of the walls.

"Huh?" Kuni blinked. What was he looking at?

The puppy tugged at his kimono for a second, then let go and jumped down from the rock, running over to pat a cherry blossom petal which must have blown into the cave at some point. Then he looked at the wall again.

Maybe it wasn't the wall he was looking at. Maybe he was just trying to signal something in that direction…

"I can't go back to Susano and Kushi. You know what Susano said to me before I left, you were there. He said I was no longer his son. Not that I ever really was in the first place."

Mutt tipped his head to one side, letting out a quiet whining sound. He glanced around for a moment, as if trying to find something. Eventually he spotted an oddly-shaped stone and tossed it onto his head, sitting with his tail wagging.

"What?"

Looking slightly disappointed that Kuni didn't understand him this time, Mutt wandered over to a long piece of grass and started to pull at it, then glanced back at Kuni again.

"Oh," he muttered, understanding this time. "I… don't know about Kushi. But I'm still not sure I really want to go back to Kamiki."

Mutt just gave a despondent huff, glancing at the wall once more.

Kuni hesitated for a moment. Then he let out a long sigh. "Okay, Mutt, you win. If you want to go to Kamiki then we'll go. But we should wait for the storm to end first."


	22. Facing The Truth

**Ouch, short chapters...**

**This was gonna be longer but I decided to split the chapter in half xD**

**There is some foreshadowing in here heheh...**

**Ah, Issun. We love your perverted nature.**

**Not much else to say here... xD**

**Also I'd like to thank anyone who's reviewed this story, I don't reply to reviews much because there doesn't seem to be any easier way than just sending people PMs OTL. But I definitely read and appreciate every one of them ^^**

* * *

Issun hesitated beside one of the cherry blossoms lining the path up to Konohana. Normally he would have raced right to the tree to find Sakuya – and probably try to find his way into her clothes as well. But right now, given the situation, that seemed to be inappropriate – even for him. Since he got to the village he hadn't mentioned Ammy to anyone – they didn't even know she'd returned; he didn't want to scare them all by telling them that someone had captured the goddess and planned to kill her. But somehow he had the feeling that Sakuya would know that Amaterasu was here. She always seemed to know these things.

Taking a deep breath, Issun hopped along the remainder of the path, through the gate and onto one of the rocks surrounding the tree.

"Hey, Sakuya!" he called, trying to sound cheery, just in case she didn't know what was going on. If that was the case then he didn't plan on telling her. "I'm back!"

Everything was quiet for a moment. Then a light appeared partway up the tree, moving a few feet forwards and fading to reveal Sakuya's human form.

"Oh, Issun," she said rather formally, as usual. Issun couldn't help but notice that she was remaining out of jumping distance. Shame. "So you've returned from the Celestial Plain at last."

"Yup!" the poncle grinned. "I bet things were pretty dull around here without me!"

"You were gone for quite some time."

"Bah, spare me the lecture, sweetie, I'm back now!" he shrugged. _Please don't say anything about Ammy…_

"Where's Amaterasu? I would have thought that she'd be with you, since she arrived not long ago."

_Darn. _"Well… erm, she _was_ with us…"

"Was?" Sakuya blinked.

"Yeah… funny story… uhh, she kinda got… god-napped…"

"_What_? Issun, you'd better not be trying to make a joke."

"No joke," he sighed. "But don't you worry, Sakuya, we're going to get her back!" _Somehow._

"Why would someone want to capture the goddess? What purpose would that serve?" Sakuya continued, though Issun couldn't tell whether she was asking him or herself.

"I think he believes he can kill her," Issun said matter-of-factly. Seeing that for once Sakuya actually seemed alarmed by what he said, he continued. "But he said he wants to kill her in front of everyone in Nippon so they can see how much power he has or something. So we've got a few days at least. But I'm not going to let him go through with it!"

"Issun, if this person is really powerful enough to capture the goddess Amaterasu, you won't be able to stop him on your own."

"Bah, I got help. Chibi's around here somewhere." _He's just all the way in Taka Pass right now._

"What about your other friend who came to the village with you? He looked injured."

Issun failed to stifle a laugh. "The prophet? He's not exactly what you'd call a friend. And I don't want his help either. It's partially his fault Ammy got captured anyways."

"Hmm. Well, if you really think you can save the goddess…" Sakuya said evenly, glancing over at the setting sun in the horizon. "Then I'll wish you the best of luck."

"Cheers, Sakuya," Issun smiled, despite the fact that she wouldn't be able to see that. At least it was helping to mask his doubts. "We're definitely gonna need it…"

* * *

The moon shone down from above, illuminating the remains of the forest as Chibi and Kuni made their way back to Shinshu. The storm had passed now, extinguishing the flames and leaving Agata in a sorry state. Most of the trees in the southern part of the forest were charred, missing most of their leaves, and the bushes and grass had turned to ash.

Chibi thought to himself that if the forest had been any larger it wouldn't have been any easier to find his way through it now than when the fire had still been alight, but luckily he could see past the burnt trees to the lake beyond. The water glimmered in the moonlight, only the edges affected where debris had fallen in.

"The fire really tore up the forest, huh," Kuni muttered quietly from where he was sat on Chibi's back. "I wonder what started it."

That was a good question. What _had_ started the fire?

Or more accurately… _who_ had started it?

He knew someone had been creating that fire. They'd been using inferno. But the only one that he knew of who could do that was Amaterasu, and there was no way his mother would have started the fire… and besides, he was with her practically the whole time.

But they weren't the only ones who could use the Celestial Brush. Perhaps something evil had that ability as well…

It didn't take long to reach Shinshu Field. As soon as they got there Chibi paused at the top of the hill to glance around, trying to decide where the others would have gone.

Kuni hopped down onto the grass. "Uhh, Mutt… look, I… I don't know whether I'm ready to go back to Kamiki just yet…"

Chibi glanced over at him, tipping his head to one side.

"I haven't seen Susano or Kushi in months… and I mean, we were just caught in a fire, I've had enough panic for one day. You can go to Kamiki if you want, but… I think I'll go to Hana Valley for a bit. Just until I'm ready to go see them again."

He could easily tell that Kuni was nervous about seeing his adopted parents again. Probably because he was worried they would just kick him out. Chibi knew that Susano and Kushi wouldn't do that, but he wasn't going to force Kuni to go to the village if he was scared.

Deciding to let him off for now, Chibi nodded.

"Thanks, Mutt. Well, I'll see you later, right?"

He nodded again.

"Bye!" Kuni waved as he headed off towards the entrance to Hana Valley.

Chibi watched him go, and then wandered down the slope in the direction of the village. He couldn't wait to see his mum again and make sure that everyone had escaped the fire.

* * *

Issun had spent most of the evening trying to come up with a plan to rescue Ammy, but so far he couldn't think of anything. To be able to get her back they needed to know where Tero was holding her captive until he decided to go through with his plan.

And he wasn't sure how to find that out, so for now he'd taken to wandering around the village to try and clear his head. Hopefully an idea would come to him when he wasn't trying to think of one. Not only that, but Issun hadn't seen Waka since they arrived at Kamiki and he wanted to make sure the prophet wasn't off getting himself killed by something else.

After an hour of searching, Issun finally found him sat on one of the ledges above the waterfall. It didn't take that long for the poncle to scale the cliff face – though it would have been a lot easier if Ammy were there to help, since there were a few konohana flowers floating in the air.

"Geez, fruitcake, must you always hide in such high places?" Issun grumbled as he finally reached the small clearing at the top of the cliff.

Waka didn't reply. He was just staring at the water below and didn't appear to pay any attention to Issun.

"Just sitting there and sulking won't bring Ammy back, ya know," Issun tutted, rolling his eyes.

Still no response.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?"

No reply. Obviously not.

Issun let out a long sigh and sat down on the grass, ripping off a blade and tossing it into the water where it floated on the surface. It was no fun trying to wind the prophet up when he just ignored everything he said.

Instead of bothering to come up with another insult, Issun just sat and watched the blade of grass for a while as it slowly got pulled towards the top of the waterfall. Helpless against the current. That was pretty much how he felt right now. And no matter how much he tried to think about something else, he couldn't get Ammy out of his head. He'd thought that starting an argument with Waka might help to take his mind off it, but no, the one time he actually _wanted_ to talk to that darn prophet he had to go and totally shut out everything Issun said.

Would he be able to start an ordinary conversation? The poncle shuddered at the thought. But it was either that or ending up totally freaking out over what had happened to Ammy…

"You supposedly scouted around Nippon while we were in Kamui, right, prophet? Rather than just lazing around somewhere waiting for us to get here."

"Oui."

Well, at least he wasn't _completely_ ignoring him. "So what's going on everywhere else then? There any more demons around?"

Waka was silent for a moment, as if he was either considering whether to bother replying this time or had totally forgotten everything he'd seen. Eventually he shrugged. "Something's happened at Sei'an, probably a demon attack but everyone seems okay. And for whatever reason the Moon Cave has re-appeared."

"The Moon Cave?" Issun blinked. "Don't tell me that stupid serpent Orochi has been brought back to life as well!"

"How should I know? I didn't go inside the cave."

"Bah," Issun muttered. Some help this was. Why did Tero have to go bringing back so many demons?

Then again, the last time Orochi had been revived there had been an evil presence so strong that even Issun had been able to sense it, and there was nothing like that now. Perhaps that was where the fox wench or that fish demon were hiding out.

Or perhaps…

Not many people would know about the cave re-appearing. Not unless they went through the gate there. It must have been hidden; otherwise they would have noticed the cave on their way to and from Agata.

So wasn't that the perfect place to hide something?

"Well, I'm gonna go see if Chibi and Kuni are back yet," Issun shrugged, not wanting to reveal his ideas to Waka because he knew that the prophet would insist on going with him on a mission to rescue Amaterasu.

Luckily, Waka didn't seem to pick up on his idea. He was probably just happy that Issun was going to leave him alone now. Quite frankly, Issun was happy to do so.

Getting back down the cliff was harder than climbing up, but he managed to make it down to the village in one piece. Then he hopped away along the path in the direction of Shinshu Field.

_Don't worry, Ammy, _he thought, more optimistic than he had been all day. _Issun's coming to save ya!_


	23. The Rescue?

**Not sure if FF will allow question marks in the titles of chapters... so if there isn't one there then it rejected it xD**

**I find it ironic that someone asked me when we were going back to Kamui, and I'd just finished writing a Kamui part...**

**Poor Oki, I don't know if he's got better or worse xD**

**Also, we're assuming that Chibi was rich and bought the brush techniques from the shaman/merchant bloke at Yakushi village so he can use "Splash" (deluge)... I still do not understand how someone can sell brush techniques. **

* * *

It looked like the snowstorm was finally starting to let up, the pale blue and orange colours of the sunrise now visible beyond the swirling torrents of white. Whether the storm was actually going to end soon it was hard to tell, but this was the calmest it had been since it started, so that was a good sign at least.

Oki was sat on the bridge over the frozen river in Wep'keer once more, watching the sun rising. Seeing the sun made him briefly wonder how Amaterasu and Issun were doing. Maybe they'd defeated some of the demons, and that was why the snowstorm was starting to calm down?

Then again, thinking of Issun reminded him of what the poncle had said the last time they met.

_He thinks Kai has feelings for me? Really? I'd never even considered that…_

Oki felt embarrassed just wondering if it was possible he might feel the same way towards her.

The sound of crunching snow a few metres away nearly made him jump out of his skin, and he glanced over to see who was walking towards him.

"Kai…"

Awkward.

"Hey, Oki," she smiled, holding her mask above her head so that she could easily slide it back down to protect her face if the storm got any worse.

"Pff, don't sneak up on me like that," he joked. "You scared me half to death!" At least she didn't seem to have heard what Issun had said when they were outside the forest. Then things would be even more awkward.

"Oh, sorry," Kai laughed, going over to sit down next to him. "Well, I found Samickle looking for you just now. Apparently Kemu said you aren't confined to the village anymore since your wound healed, you can go home if you want to."

"Oh… okay," Oki said half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

There was a long silence.

Eventually Oki stood up, brushing the snow from his clothes despite knowing he was probably going to get covered in it again on his way back to his house. "Well, guess I'd better go now before the storm gets bad again."

"Oh... yeah," Kai replied, sounding slightly disheartened as if she were sad he was leaving. She blinked and jumped up. "Well, see you soon I guess."

Oki hesitated for a moment. What possessed him to do this he wasn't sure, but the next thing he knew he'd wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Oki…!"

He hastily stepped back. "Right… yeah… see ya!"

Knowing that his face had gone red – and glad that he had his mask on and no one would notice – Oki hurried away towards the village entrance, morphing into his wolf form as he ran, leaving Kai by the waterfall looking slightly dazed.

* * *

Not long after leaving Kamiki, Issun found Chibi. Or more accurately, nearly got stepped on by him.

"Hey, hey, watch where you're going!" he cried, jumping back before he could get squished.

Chibi just barked, his tail wagging. The poncle couldn't tell whether that was supposed to be an apology or a greeting, but either would do.

"I thought Kuni was with you? What happened to him?"

The puppy glanced across the field, giving another bark.

"He isn't coming back to Kamiki?" Issun blinked, slightly frustrated that he couldn't understand what Chibi was saying and just had to guess. "Ah well, I'm sure he has his reasons."

He was taken my surprise as Chibi nudged him with his nose, inevitably knocking him over, and glanced past him towards the village.

"What the heck was that for?" Issun snapped, jumping back to his feet. What was Chibi trying to say? It almost looked as if he were looking for something…

Of course. He knew that Issun barely ever went anywhere on his own, especially when there were probably demons around. The puppy wanted to know where Amaterasu was.

"Oh… you're looking for Ammy?" he asked, almost feeling guilty that he was going to have to tell the young god what happened.

Chibi nodded.

"Heh… well… um… long story short… that Tero guy kinda like, captured her and plans to kill her."

Maybe he should have found a gentler way to break the news to him. As soon as he heard the story, Chibi let out a high-pitched yelp and jumped back, staring at Issun in disbelief. He almost looked like he was about to cry – which was strange for a wolf.

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" Issun said hurriedly, hopping over to jump onto the puppy's head. "I'm on my way to try and get her back! You'll come with me, right?"

It took a moment for Chibi to get over his initial shock. Then he nodded strongly.

"Okay!" Issun cheered, nearly getting thrown off the wolf's head. "Well, I think Tero is keeping her locked up somewhere in the Moon Cave, so we'll head there first. When we get there we'll sneak in, okay?"

This time Issun managed to keep his balance as Chibi nodded again.

"Great, then let's go!"

* * *

By the time they reached the bottom of the slope leading to the caves, the moon was high in the sky, casting only a few small shadows around them. The long sandy path stretched out into Harami Lake, coming to a dead end at a small gravestone-shaped statue.

"The cave's hidden," Issun spoke up, just in case Chibi didn't know. "You can only see it once you pass through the gate. When we go through we gotta be as quiet as possible, okay? We'll sneak in and free Ammy, then escape."

Chibi gave a quick nod. He understood the plan.

"Alright, let's go in," Issun continued quietly. _Now we gotta hope that prophet wasn't just seeing things._

The young god padded towards the gate, his pawsteps silenced by the damp sand of the path. Everything was eerily quiet here. Issun held his breath as they went underneath the giant arch, anticipating what might happen. Their surroundings warped and Chibi hesitated. As soon as everything stopped moving, he started walking along the path again.

The Moon Cave looked similar to when Issun had last seen it, except there wasn't broken wood all over the place and Orochi's evil aura wasn't swirling around in the sky – although it still looked ominously dark. Maybe it was always like that here, just to remind people that this was where so many people had been killed by that giant serpent.

And what if his hunch was incorrect? What if it really was Orochi in this cave, and the serpent had just not announced his revival to the whole world this time…

But no, there was no barrier across the entrance of the cave. Unless that was so people like them would just wander in and then get eaten.

_Gah! Shut up! _He didn't want to start thinking of all the possibilities. If he did, he'd only end up getting too scared to go in there. No, he was pretty certain that this was where Tero was keeping Ammy. It wasn't far from where they'd captured her.

… So what if this was a trap?

_Ack! Stop it! _The creeping shadows were making his imagination run wild.

Chibi paused, trying to glance up at him and letting out a quiet whine.

"What? I'm not scared!" he protested, hoping the god hadn't picked up on how nervous he was. "The great Issun fears nothing! We gotta go in there to save Ammy."

His ears twitching, Chibi sped up his pace, trotting towards the cave. Obviously he wasn't quite as bothered by this place as Issun was. After all, he was a god. He had a lot of power.

He wasn't as powerful as Amaterasu, though. Maybe that was why Issun felt so vulnerable this time. Or perhaps it was just because of who they were up against.

The entrance of the Moon Cave loomed up ahead, foreboding and dark. No matter how hard he listened, Issun couldn't hear anything from inside, although the caves did go quite deep into the small mountain.

As soon as they entered the cave, the darkness swallowed them. Issun was irritated by the fact that there was no way to get rid of the green glow that surrounded him, and he tried to hide in Chibi's fur, though it wasn't quite long enough to conceal him completely.

"Bah," he mumbled quietly, aware that the cave would probably echo what he said if he spoke too loud and anything could be watching them in here. "Let's just hope there's some light up ahead."

Chibi continued through the tunnel, his claws tapping lightly on the stone. He could probably see better in here than Issun could. Not to mention that since he was a wolf his sense of smell and hearing was a lot better than that of a poncle. Issun was just going to have to sit tight and hope that if Chibi sensed any danger then he wouldn't get thrown off.

Eventually the tunnel opened out and Issun realised that he recognised this place. A few metres ahead were the steps that lead up to the main part of the Moon Cave, or what had once been Orochi's 'throne room'. Good thing that there wasn't a massive gap in the middle this time. A few candles flickered at the sides, so at least there was some light here. Now Issun didn't have to worry as much.

As they headed up the steps Chibi tried to walk as quietly as he could, his ears and nose twitching as he stayed alert to everything around him. At the top of the stairs was a short path littered with rocks, which lead to a massive gate. Luckily it was open and they could see what was beyond.

It was a large clearing, just like before. But no Orochi, not even the massive hole in the centre of the room where the demon should have been. Instead there was a cage.

_Ammy!_

The goddess looked rather dejected, and for a moment Issun thought her powers had returned until he realised that it was just a scar on her shoulder. A new one. He couldn't tell what had given her that wound, but it wasn't hard to guess.

She wasn't alone in the room, however.

"You two better go rally your troops or whatever it is you do." That voice again. Tero. "We need to get everyone in Nippon here to watch the main event. No better way than to cause a bit of chaos to scare them over here."

As soon as Chibi heard the voice he gasped, quickly diving to the side to hide behind one of the rocks so that they were no longer in full view from the room. Issun flinched, hoping no one had heard them.

Ninetails flicked an ear, glancing over at the path with his one remaining eye. Luckily though, he didn't appear to notice or suspect anything and just glanced back across the room.

Issun breathed a quiet sigh of relief. They were safe for now.

He climbed onto the rock, peering over the top so that he could see what was in the clearing. Ammy was in a cage in the centre, sitting quietly and glaring at Tero as he wandered around the room. Presumably if she made too much of a fuss then she'd end up getting hurt. Ninetails and Yami were at the edge of the cave, the fox demon sat with his tails twitching irritably every now and then and the giant metal orb rested on the ground for once instead of floating in the air.

"Wait until daytime before sending any demons, though," Tero continued, addressing the fox and foetus. "Then more people will be up and about. No point attacking when everyone's asleep, they won't get the message."

_He's planning to send demons to attack various places just to tell people to come here and watch Ammy die, _Issun realised with a fresh feeling of hatred towards that guy. _And something tells me that he wouldn't care if any innocent people got killed in the process…_

"How are we supposed to rescue Ammy?" he whispered quietly to Chibi. "Tero must have put her right in the centre of the room so that it'd be easy to notice anyone trying to wreck his plans."

He glanced back at the puppy and realised that the god didn't really seem to be listening to him. He was too busy looking around the edge of the rock, his eyes narrowed. Did he have an idea?

Suddenly the young god jumped out from behind the rocks and flicked his tail, drawing an inferno from one of the candles in the room and aiming for Tero.

Annoyingly, the man noticed in time and jumped around, holding out one hand and creating a barrier that deflected the fire.

_Darn!_

But Chibi didn't seem too bothered. He flicked his tail again and suddenly it started raining. The water made contact with the fire and all of a sudden the room willed with smoke and steam as the flames were put out.

_Oh I see. That was his plan… nice one, Chibi!_

The puppy sped across the room and soon Issun had lost sight of him amongst the clouds of smoke. He was probably heading for the cage.

"Do something, you stupid fox!" Tero shouted.

Issun gasped. Dammit, he'd forgotten Ninetails was here. A sudden gale swept through the cave and Issun had to try and cling to the rock as he was nearly blown away. As soon as the wind died down he climbed back to the top of the massive stone to see what was happening. The kitsune's Galestorm had completely cleared out the smoke. Still, Chibi hadn't given up.

He had almost reached the cage now, flicking his tail across as he delivered a massive power slash to the lock.

Nothing happened.

"Stupid puppy," Tero laughed, suddenly appearing next to the young god. "Hadn't you realised that the material this cage is made of just absorbs any brush techniques used?"

He grabbed the wolf by the tail, making sure that he wouldn't be able to use any other techniques on him. Chibi let out a yelp as he was lifted into the air.

"Chibi!" Issun cried.

The second the word was let out he clamped his hands across his mouth.

Too late. Tero had glanced across the room and spotted him at last.

"You've come to try and free the goddess, I see," he tutted, glaring at Issun. "Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen."

"I'm not letting you kill Ammy!" Issun snapped, hopping up and down angrily on the rock now that he didn't have to worry about being noticed anymore. He'd already managed to screw that up. "Don't for even one second think that you can get away with this!"

"And who's going to stop me? You?" Tero smirked. He looked over at Ninetails. "Fox, it would appear you have a task already. Go and squish that bug."

Issun froze as the fox demon's glare locked onto him. Ammy barked frantically.

He understood the message in an instant.

_Run!_


	24. Bug Catching

**Whoa okay, somehow this chapter is 5 pages long and it's all once part. How did that happen.**

**And because of that... I don't really have much to say.**

**RUN ISSUN RUN.**

* * *

Issun didn't have second thoughts about taking Amaterasu's advice. As soon as he saw Ninetails move towards him, he turned and raced away.

He sprang down the flight of steps as quickly as he could. At his size, running would be far too slow. As soon as he reached the bottom, he hopped into the dark tunnel beyond. Could foxes see in the dark? Not that it would make any difference. Issun was easy to see even in pitch-black.

He was beginning to regret running away. What would happen to Chibi? Tero didn't want to kill him as well, did he?

But if the poncle had stayed and tried to help he'd only have ended up getting killed as well, either by that man or one of the demons.

Although, if he didn't get away quick enough then he was going to end up dead anyway.

The sound of paws drummed against the stone floor behind him. Ninetails was still in pursuit. How was Issun supposed to escape from him?

He tried zigzagging from left to right as he sped along the tunnel. At least that meant that the giant fox wouldn't be able to crush him. He just had to pray that he didn't fall over anything. Whether the fox could or not, Issun couldn't see a thing in this tunnel.

After what seemed like an age, there was finally some light ahead, and Issun sprang around the corner, finally reaching the exit. But there was still a long way to go to get away from the cave, and who knew how long Ninetails was going to chase him for.

Could he lose the fox demon somehow?

As he emerged out into the semi-fresh air, he sprang to the left, intending to try and hide among the shrubbery surrounding the cave. That might be too risky, though. Then he spotted a rather spindly tree. It was a metre or two high and the trunk wasn't very thick.

Just what he needed.

Issun quickly drew his sword and sliced a V-shape on the tree trunk. The splinter of wood went flying and the tree quickly started to fall.

_Come on, come on…!_

Just as Ninetails burst out from the tunnel, he was hit by the branches of the spindly tree. The fox let out a roar.

It wasn't going to be enough to do much – or any – harm to the demon, however. The tree was only supposed to be a distraction. Satisfied that it had worked, Issun sheathed his sword and hopped away down the path as fast as he could.

He'd managed to get half the way to the gate when Ninetails gave a fierce growl and managed to fling the tree aside.

Then Issun had to dodge aside as a massive fireball appeared in the air above him.

"Holy—!" he gasped, weaving around falling sparks. But he had to keep running. The good thing about Ninetails' inferno was that the fox wouldn't be able to see him until it finished burning.

The second it did, however, the fox was after him again. Now they were out of the confined area, the fox could run a lot faster. He was catching up.

_Crap! _Issun cursed silently. By the time he reached the gate the fox was only a few metres away once more.

His surroundings warped again as he passed under the arch, taking his moment of seclusion to hop to the opposite side of the path in hopes that it would confuse the fox. After a few seconds he was back at Shinshu again, the moon slightly lower in the sky than it had been before and the waves of Harami Lake lapping calmly at the sand.

No time to stop and watch the view.

Knowing the fox wasn't that far behind him, Issun headed along the side of the steep path leading up to the main part of Shinshu. Ninetails appeared on the path behind him a few seconds later, making a dive for the poncle, trying to crush him under one paw.

Issun made a jump for it, landing above on the path. The hill here was steep, so he wouldn't be able to jump as fast and he needed every advantage he could get to make it away from that annoying demon fox.

Yet he could tell that the distraction hadn't made much of an effect on Ninetails. He'd simply climbed up to the path as well and was chasing after him again.

_How long is that damn fox planning to chase me? Until I'm dead? _Issun wondered. He was starting to get out of breath now and the wound in his side that he'd got from the battle with Blight was starting to hurt from all the jumping.

Half way up the slope. Ninetails was catching up.

_I'm not going to make it…!_

Wind rushed past while Issun was in mid-jump and he lost his balance. That must have been the fox's doing. Then he hit something.

"Gah!" he cried out, expecting to be crushed.

Something closed around him. He was trapped.

But he wasn't getting crushed…

He heard the fox let out a yowl, as if he had been hit by something. What was going on? Had Tero decided to come after him instead since it was taking the fox so long to catch him? He braced himself, preparing to get burnt again.

When nothing happened after a few seconds, Issun opened his eyes. He was still trapped and couldn't really see where he was.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Lemme out!"

To his surprise, whoever had caught him let go, and he found himself falling through the air. A second later he landed on their hand again. There was only one person he knew of who would treat him like that right after helping him escape from a demon.

"Dammit, prophet!" he snapped, glancing up. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Waka tutted. "Would you rather I left you to get crushed by that fox?"

Not bothering to answer, Issun glanced around to see where he was now. They were at the top of the slope, Harami Lake stretching out to the horizon below. Ninetails was still part way down the slope, a new scar across his muzzle. Waka still had Pillow Talk unsheathed in case the fox tried to attack them again, but he didn't seem overly worried. Then again, the prophet hardly ever did…

"He's coming back," Issun pointed out, edging back slightly as the fox came racing back up the slope once more.

He definitely hadn't anticipated what happened next.

A misty cloud of pink surrounded the demon, causing Ninetails to let out a confused yowl. It took Issun a moment to realise that the pink colour was a storm of cherry blossom petals. One or two of them floated past on the breeze around the fields, but that was nothing compared to the amount that were surrounding the fox.

As soon as Ninetails managed to claw his way out of the cloud of petals he tried to advance again, though some kind of plant rose up from the sand and wrapped itself around the fox's paws.

"What the heck?" Issun blinked, slightly dumbfounded. He glanced around. "Ohh…"

Sakuya floated in the air nearby, watching the demon intently. She must have been the one creating all these petals and plants… after all, she was a tree sprite.

"You two should get out of here," she said, not taking her eyes off the fox even for a moment as he tried to break free from the vines. "I'll hold the demon off."

"But what about—" Issun started, though he didn't get a chance to finish. He was encased in a hand once more. "Hey!"

This time Waka didn't free him, so he fought his way out instead – and nearly lost his hat as he emerged out into the fresh air once more. He gasped, holding the beetle shell to his head with one hand. They were flying across Shinshu. So this was what flying was like…

It didn't take long to reach the cliffs at the edge of the fields. From here, Issun could see the various cherry blossom trees and the tops of the houses in Kamiki. He was still busy admiring the view when Waka finally let him go and he fell to the ground.

"Oof!" he gasped as he hit the ground, all the breath knocked out of him. He jumped up. "Stupid prophet! Why were you out here anyways?"

"Sakuya saw you and Chibi heading for the Moon Cave," Waka replied simply. "Don't thank me for saving you from the fox demon, will you," he added, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Bah. I don't mind being saved by Sakuya, but _you_? No way." Issun huffed, turning away pointedly.

"De rien," Waka rolled his eyes. "Where's Chibi?"

Issun froze. He thought about lying and saying that he hadn't seen him come back from Taka Pass yet but he had the feeling that Waka would see right through him anyway. So he might as well just tell the truth. "Tero captured him when we were trying to save Ammy."

"Issun, you—"

"Yeah, yeah," the poncle interrupted. "Spare me the lecture, fruitcake; I know it's my fault that Chibi got caught."

He couldn't see Waka's reaction, but the prophet was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "Guess this makes us even now, huh, my little bouncing friend."

Issun understood what that meant in an instant. Still, he refused to be even with a fruitcake.

"Well, whatever," he grumbled. When he finally glanced around again, the prophet had wandered off, looking as if he was about to head back to the village. Hesitating for a moment, unsure whether it was because he didn't want to get left up here on a cliff by himself, Issun hopped after him. "Hey, wait! At least I found out some of Tero's plans while I was there."

"Quoi? You did?" Waka halted and glanced around, looking slightly doubtful, as if he wasn't sure whether Issun really did have any information or whether he was just saying that to try and make up for Chibi getting captured.

Slightly irritated that Waka sounded so disbelieving, Issun wondered whether to actually bother telling him anything. But hey, it made him look smarter and that was enough for him. "It sounded like he's planning to send hoards of demons around Nippon to spread the message and get everyone over here to witness Ammy's death - which ain't gonna happen."

"When?"

"Sending the demons tomorrow, I think," Issun shrugged. "He said something about giving everyone two days to get here, so that must be when he plans to kill Ammy."

"We'll have to stop him when he brings Amaterasu out into the open," Waka said evenly, looking over in the direction of the Moon Cave. Sakuya had vanished and Ninetails was nowhere to be seen, so presumably he'd given up. "Tero will have to take her out into Shinshu if he plans to kill her in front of everyone in Nippon. The Moon Cave is too small for that. Still, he must be pretty confident if he thinks he can take on the whole of Nippon if they try and stop him."

"Sounds simple enough," Issun muttered. "But innocent people are gonna get killed by the demons he's sending out."

"We just have to warn everyone. I'll head out to Sei'an in the morning."

"In the morning? Why don't you just go now?" Issun tutted, not wanting that prophet hanging around. It was irritating enough just having to talk to him.

"Demons are more active at night," Waka pointed out. "Issun, you should stay in the village and let them know what's going on."

"You want me to hide away in Kamiki while the rest of Nippon is in danger?" Issun snapped. "You think I'm a coward or something?"

"No, I just don't think you'd be much of a match for any demon."

"I'll have you know I recently fought off a demon called Blight in Ponc'tan! The same demon that _you_ couldn't do anything about last year when he filled the city with that green fog!"

"Yes, but I doubt highly that the demons Tero is sending will be the size of grasshoppers."

"Hey! Who are you calling a grasshopper?"

"Besides, since _someone_ got Chibiterasu captured as well, there's no one else to watch over Kamiki while I go to the city."

"Oh yeah?" Issun's green glow had turned an angry shade of red. This was why he never bothered trying to speak to Waka. The prophet was too darn annoying. "We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if _you_ hadn't got Ammy caught!"

He couldn't help but notice Waka flinch slightly. "I fail to see how this is my fault."

_Liar._ "The only reason Ammy let Tero capture her in the first place was because she was trying to save _you_."

"Peut-être, but she probably would have done the same if Tero had used you as a hostage instead."

"I wouldn't have let him catch me."

Waka just laughed. "So you would have learnt from your past mistakes?"

"Shut up!"

It was everything Issun could do not to stab him. He couldn't tell if Waka was winding him up on purpose or whether he just managed to do that naturally. Taking a deep breath to get rid of his irritation, Issun let it out again in a long sigh. "Fine, I'll stay at Kamiki. I mean, spreading the word around is what a Celestial Envoy is supposed to do."

"Trés bien. See you in a while then, since I doubt I'll be meeting you again before morning."

Issun let out a quiet laugh as he headed to what seemed like the easiest way back down to the village. "You got that right, fruitcake."


	25. Setting Out for the Sun

**Okay, we now have Kagu and Kaguya in the story at the same time. This could end up getting really confusing...**

**Oh Issun, how we missed your perverted nature... but not around the kids, okay?**

**Also, who likes my CHAPTER TITLE IRONY SKILLS.**

* * *

The tiniest slit of light appeared over the horizon as the sun began to rise. It stained the sky red, reflecting in the water of Harami Lake, making it look as if it were tainted with blood. It was almost like an omen for the coming day.

_Ma chérie… I'm sorry. It's my fault we're in this mess._

Waka was sat near the waterfall above Kamiki once more, waiting until it would be safe enough to travel to the city. Even though it was Tero's fault that Amaterasu had been captured, he couldn't help but feel at least partially responsible. It didn't help that Issun seemed to be insistent on pointing all the blame on him. Almost unconsciously he put a hand to his neck, taking note of yet another bandage he had there now.

It was annoying that he couldn't do anything to save Amaterasu yet. He was plenty used to having to wait around, but never had the circumstances seemed so urgent. The only time they could save the sun goddess would be right before she was about to die. And yet Issun still believed that they would be able to stop Tero. Waka almost felt jealous of his optimism.

And what about Chibi? Waka didn't know what Tero planned to do with him – he hadn't originally planned to capture the younger god as well, so what if he decided to just kill him? Yet Chibi was still a god. He wouldn't be easy to kill. And Tero wouldn't have anything to use to threaten him – the man wouldn't kill Amaterasu until his plan was ready.

Unless he planned to use Chibi as a hostage to stop them from trying to save Amaterasu.

Waka let out a long sigh. Everything was starting to get far too complicated. Fighting demons was always so simple – they weren't particularly bright when it came to thinking up plans like this – but Tero was a person, capable of outsmarting them. The only way to defeat him would either be to use brute force or finding a way to outsmart _him_.

The sun was gradually appearing over the horizon, filling the land with light. It didn't seem as bright as usual. Still, Waka needed to get to the city before anything else got there first.

Casting one last glance back at the village and hoping that Issun would be able to warn everyone in time, a gust of wind rushed past and Waka used it to glide along the cliffs, heading in the direction of Sei'an once more.

* * *

_The goddess Amaterasu has been captured…?_

Ocean wind brushed over the beaches of Ryoshima as the sun gradually climbed higher in the orange-tinted sky. Usually at a time like this someone would be enjoying the view, but Kaguya was busy searching the land. Upon recovering her memories she had also discovered her power of clairvoyance. Most of the Moon Tribe had this power to some description – she'd heard of others being able to see the future, and likewise she could see the present, being able to see what was going on anywhere in Nippon, and maybe even beyond.

She could see that Amaterasu was trapped in a cage, somewhere in a cave, but it had some kind of aura that stopped her from being able to tell where it was, so there was very little she could do about it. Instead, Kaguya continued to scan the land, looking to see what was happening.

There was something heading towards Ryoshima. At first she couldn't tell what it was, but then she sensed the evil aura. It was a lot stronger than just one or two imps.

_Demons. There are a lot of demons heading this way!_

What could she do? There was no way Kaguya would be able to take on such a vast number of monsters – even though she did have some powers, they wouldn't be enough to take on evil that strong, and they weren't all that effective for fighting in the first place.

Maybe she could warn the people in the city. If they were prepared for an attack, the demons would be much less dangerous.

But she'd have to hurry. The demons were approaching very fast. It was almost as if they were intending to reach the city. That was strange. Usually demons just went wherever they pleased.

What was going on?

* * *

Kuni stood nervously by the line of cherry trees lining the path to Kamiki Village. He'd hoped that Mutt would come out to Hana Valley to find him, but he hadn't seen the puppy since he left yesterday. He was starting to regret not just going with him to the village in the first place; he didn't want to venture into Kamiki to find him.

There was a noise from somewhere along the path and Kuni gasped, about to make a run for it in case it was someone from the village heading this way. However, it didn't sound much like footsteps…

He froze as he saw a green light moving against the sandy orange background of the path and immediately recognised Issun hopping towards him. Kuni had met the poncle a few times before and knew that he was a Celestial Envoy, but not much more than that.

Issun halted abruptly a few metres away, glancing up at him. "Oh, Kuni, it's just you. I thought you were a demon for a second then!"

"A demon?" Kuni blinked.

"I see you escaped the fire then. Heading back to Kamiki to see your parents, huh?"

"My…" Kuni started. Of course, Issun didn't know. "Erm… it's kinda a long story, but… Susano and Kushi aren't my real parents…"

"Wow, really?" Issun exclaimed. "Wow… so you're adopted? That kinda makes sense… I doubt Susano would be – I mean, so you're going back to see them?"

"Erm… not really," Kuni muttered, glancing at the ground and not even bothering to try and work out what Issun had been about to say. "I was looking for Mutt."

"Mutt?"

"You know… white puppy? Red markings? Sun god? Kinda hard to miss," he shrugged.

"Oh, you mean Chibi!" Issun realised, hopping around on the spot as if to cover up that he hadn't understood. "You seriously call him Mutt?"

"Yeah, do you know where he is?"

"Well… sort of…"

"Sort of?"

"Let's just say he's kinda… not here… as in like, kinda been captured by someone…"

"He's been captured?" Kuni gasped. "Then we should try and save him!"

"Not a good idea," Issun muttered. "Trust me. Don't worry too much, Chibi can look after himself. He is a god, after all." He stopped jumping and glanced around the field. "You should go to the village anyways; it's dangerous out here with demons around."

"No, no… I'm okay," Kuni shrugged. If Mutt wasn't here, he didn't want to go back to the village alone…

"You sure? Kushi looked pretty worried yesterday when she heard about the fire in Agata. Susano too. And I didn't think he usually worried about anything other than running out of sake."

Kuni froze once more. Issun had told them that he was in Agata? Oh, great. Well, the poncle hadn't known that he was trying to avoid meeting the people who he'd thought of as his parents until a few months ago. He didn't know any better.

"Well… tell them I'm okay then," Kuni sighed. "But I'm not going back to Kamiki."

* * *

The sun was still rising in the sky as Kagu pushed open the door of the theatre and stepped outside. Sei'an City was still relatively quiet as it was so early in the morning. Most other people were probably still asleep, although a few of them were up and about. There were guards on duty as always.

It was too early for any rehearsals – her parents were probably still asleep anyways – so Kagu decided she might as well find something useful to do. Wasting time doing nothing was something she hated. Maybe she should go over to the palace – now the miko training grounds – and see Miko Cho. Kagu hadn't spoken to anyone about the demon battle the other day, and how she hadn't been able to defeat that caterpillar demon. Maybe it had been too strong for her miko powers. In which case, she needed to get stronger.

But she already trained as much as she could. What if the only way to get stronger was to get older?

She let out a sigh as she walked towards Gojo Bridge. If that was the case, she was going to have to wait a very long time before she was strong enough to defend the city from things like that…

As she passed by the guards, they were muttering quietly about something. They weren't looking in her direction, so Kagu decided it was none of her business – until she heard the word 'demons'.

"Hey! Guards!" she demanded. "What's this about demons?"

Both of the guards gasped when she shouted at them, as if they hadn't realised she'd heard their conversation. They exchanged a glance.

"We don't want to frighten the city dwellers…" one of them pointed out.

"I'm a miko!" Kagu persisted, glaring at the guards. "If there are rumours about something, I know better than to spread them around and scare everyone."

The guards exchanged another glance. Glaring at people always seemed to work. Mainly because most people in the city knew of Kagu's short temper.

"There was a young woman outside the city just now," the second guard told her eventually. "She told us there were some demons heading here from the east."

"But the guards at the entrance didn't believe her, so they sent her away," the first man continued.

"They didn't believe her? Why?" Kagu blinked. "We've only just had a demon attack; surely we should be wary of another one!"

"Because there didn't seem to be any logical way for her to know about any demons from so far away," the first guard shrugged, "unless she was a demon herself."

That made sense. But why would a demon warn them of a demon attack?

"Maybe she just found out somehow…" Kagu muttered. "I mean, aren't there ways of seeing what's going to happen? Didn't Queen Himiko have some kind of crystal ball or something that let her do that?"

"Yes," the second guard countered. "But that was Queen Himiko. This person was a complete stranger."

Did that really make a difference? Kagu was silent for a moment. "Is that person still around?"

"We don't know," the first guard shook his head. "I doubt she'd have gone far. But it would probably be too dangerous to go looking for her."

"I'll be fine," Kagu snapped, her voice serious. Honestly, the guards here. They didn't believe in her miko abilities at all.

* * *

The sky was starting to change to its normal light-blue colour as Kagu hurried along the sandy path in Ryoshima. She'd had to shove her way past the guards at the city's entrance to get out, and she was being extra cautious incase there were any demons around here.

She was still looking for that person the guards had seen, although she regretted not waiting to ask what they looked like. All she knew was they were a woman. At least there weren't likely to be many other people out on the coast this early in the morning.

Eventually she spotted a silhouette in the distance. Was that them? As she got nearer, Kagu could just about make out someone with hair that reached at least down to their waist, and bamboo leaves on their head like rabbit ears. They were certainly strange-looking. It was no wonder the guards had thought of her as suspicious.

"Hey!" she called, skidding to a halt a few metres away. She didn't think this person was a demon, but you could never be too careful. "Were you at the city this morning?"

"Huh?" the other person glanced around, looking slightly shocked, as if she hadn't noticed Kagu was there. "Oh… I… yes…"

"Were you the one who warned the guards of a demon attack?"

"Well, I did… but they didn't believe me. They said I was an imposter."

_Sometimes being different can be so tough, _Kagu thought ruefully. "So, there really are demons heading for the city?"

The woman nodded. "A _lot_ of demons. I think some of them are quite powerful."

"How did you find out?" Kagu asked. "I mean… I think that's the main reason the guards didn't believe you."

"Ah… well… it might sound a bit far-fetched, but… I can see just about anything that's happening in Nippon. I can see where the demons are right now. They're heading across the city bridge."

"You're sure about that?"

"Positive."

Kagu was silent for a moment as she glanced in the general direction of the city checkpoint. It wasn't that far away. If they warned everyone now then they might get everyone prepared in time for an attack… "I believe you." She wasn't sure whether this woman was entirely human, but she definitely wasn't a demon. That was the main thing. "We'll go back to the city and warn everyone."

"I'm not sure if it's going to make any difference…" she sighed. "I never seem to have the best of luck when it comes to the people in Sei'an."

"I'll tell them I used my miko powers to check or something. The guards will have to believe that. If they don't… ah, I'll just make 'em."

"Um… okay?" she smiled anxiously. "So you're a miko? You're quite a young one."

"I'm the most powerful young miko in the city!" Kagu responded, arrogant as usual. "Even if I'm still a child, I've defeated plenty of demons before. That's the job of a miko, to protect the city. Oh, and my name's Kagu. What's yours?"

"Kaguya. But if we're going to warn the people in the city about the demons we'd better hurry. They're almost here now."


	26. The Battle Begins

**Aaaagghhhhh my writing is getting worse.**

**I'm sorry, I had so much writer's block on this xD I'll try and make the next chapter better... I mean, like, now all the shizz is goin' down, bro.**

**So many random characters in this... and our one and only trip to Kusa Village~**

**Proofreading is starting to get annoying. I should stop finishing chapters at 10:30 at night.**

**And now I will go and sleep. Cuz sleep is good yo.**

* * *

Wind rustled past the mountainside town of Kusa Village as the sun rose in the sky. This place was well known for the gales that swept through it, and the villagers were well-accustomed to it – they even used the wind to power the well they got their water from. Everyone was up and about early, harvesting food or watering plants – or just standing around gossiping with their neighbours. Despite the fact that it was such a small village, Kusa was a very lively place, especially after Crimson Helm had been defeated a year ago.

Princess Fuse was heading along the path leading to the mountain, intending to go and pray at Gale Shrine. She'd heard the rumours of there being demons sighted around Nippon and she wanted to keep the village safe. Tei padded loyally along next to her, the battle-scarred Tosa's ears twitching as he listened out for any danger. The rest of the canine warriors were still at home – sleeping, probably.

For warriors, those dogs could be annoyingly lazy sometimes.

They'd just reached the top of the path when suddenly there was a high-pitched noise from somewhere back at the village. It sounded like…

A scream.

"Huh?" Fuse gasped, glancing in the direction the noise had come from.

No sooner had she heard the scream than Tei started barking fiercely and raced off ahead. A green imp jumped out from behind a rock, bounding towards them.

The imp let out a shriek as the massive dog lunged at it, and tried to jump away. It wasn't fast enough. Tei managed to claw at its neck – the dog knew that biting a demon as filthy as an imp would leave a bad taste in his mouth – and a moment later the imp fell to the ground, bursting into a flower that quickly vanished.

"Good boy, Tei," Fuse praised, slightly baffled that everything had happened so quickly.

But if there was an imp up here… there must be more demons in the village. That was why they heard a scream. Hopefully the rest of the Kusa 5 were up by now and helping to protect the village.

_The shrine will have to wait, _Fuse thought, turning and heading back down the path. "Come on, Tei. We'd better get back to the village."

* * *

The snowstorm was still going strong outside, showing no signs of stopping even though the storm had been raging for days now. This was beginning to look way too much like the time when the twin demons had been resurrected.

Oki sighed, throwing another piece of wood onto the fire. It was becoming increasingly hard to find firewood out here in Kamui thanks to all the snow. If this went on for much longer then they'd all end up freezing to death.

He changed into his wolf form in the hopes that the fur coat would help keep out the cold. It didn't work entirely, but at least he felt warmer now.

Then he realised that with his enhanced senses he could detect something from outside. Whatever it was, it seemed… evil.

Immediately he jumped to his paws, padding carefully around the fire so as not to accidentally put it out, and headed for the door. He peered out through the gap in the heavy material.

It was hard to see anything because of the swirling flakes and clouds of mist that hovered around because of the storm. But he could definitely sense something.

_Demons!_

At a short gap in the snow, he finally spotted them; a large horde of demons. They were moving quickly, as if they were heading for somewhere…

_Oh no…!_

Hurriedly Oki went to fetch his sword, and then raced outside into the snowstorm once more. It looked like he was going to be returning to Wep'keer sooner than he expected.

* * *

Demons could move a lot faster than they looked. Even though Waka had set out for the city early in the morning, the monsters had already overtaken him. Since he couldn't fly across the gap where the city drawbridge was, he found himself having to wait for the demons to cross before he could follow them. Otherwise he was going to end up being the target of an immense amount of evil…

He could have just teleported to the city, but due to past experiences he decided not to. Helping to fight off the demons would be a hell of a lot harder if all his old wounds started hurting again.

At least now he had a good chance to see exactly what they were up against here. It seemed that Tero had sent Ninetails to Ryoshima – probably because the fox demon knew the place, having nearly wiped out the city last year – and so he was the first to cross the bridge. Behind the fox trailed a large group of various kinds of demons, mainly imps and guardians but a few more dangerous ones there as well. Tero didn't want to end up killing everyone by sending demons that were too powerful, but he clearly wouldn't care if people got injured in the attack.

The guard seemed to be just as terrible at his job as usual, and because of this the demons barely even seemed to notice him. Or perhaps they were just in too much of a hurry to bother attacking a sleeping human. Still, demons only tended to pay attention to moving targets. That was probably why they hadn't noticed Waka watching them from the cliffs nearby yet.

He waited for the last demon to make it to the other side of the bridge before heading down to cross over it himself. Hopefully there were no monsters trailing behind the rest of the pack. Somehow the guard was still asleep. Still, that was probably a good thing – for the guard, at least.

But Waka needed to get to the city as soon as possible now that he knew just how much danger the people there were in. He wasn't going to get there in time to warn everyone of the demons, so he just hoped they'd be alright facing the demons on their own for now…

* * *

By the time Fuse and Tei got back to the main part of Kusa Village, the place was in pandemonium. There were imps jumping around everywhere, the villagers trying their best to get away from them. Ko, Chi, Rei and Shin were scattered around the village, trying their best to fight off the demons even though they were outnumbered.

A black imp came bounding towards them and Tei jumped forwards, growling. The imp skidded to a halt a few metres away, making the weird cawing sounds that imps always made and tipping it's head to one side, the mask over it's face flapping in the wind and a bunch of glowing skulls circling around it. It was holding something in one hand that looked like a scroll.

It was almost as if the imp was trying to communicate with them…

Creepy.

Tei issued a fierce warning bark and the imp jumped back, tossing the scroll on the floor in front of them. Then it bounced away in the opposite direction, crying out. The other imps glanced around at the noise.

And just like that, all the other imps bounded away, leaving the village behind and the villagers looking baffled.

"What on earth…?" Fuse muttered, watching as the demons vanished from sight. She glanced at the scroll the black imp had dropped. Had it been intending to give that to her? Or was this a trap? She hadn't even thought imps could be smart enough for something like that…

Tei padded over and nudged the scroll with his nose, glancing up at Fuse. It didn't seem to be any kind of trap.

Cautiously she wandered over and picked up the scroll, unravelling it. Imps definitely couldn't write, so if there was anything on this scroll then someone must have written it and used the imps to pass on the message…

"Did one of the imps drop that?" Mr. Bamboo asked, slowly walking over with Chi scurrying along beside him. The Spitz had been protecting the old man from an imp before they all vanished. "Does it say anything?"

"It does, strangely," Fuse stated, still confused. She read out the message. "'Everyone be at Shinshu Field in two days time or we will kill you all'…?"

"What? That's terrible!" one of the villagers cried.

"Imps can write?"

"Apparently so."

"No, no, it looks like it's been written by a person," Fuse shook her head. The villagers were starting to gather nearby now, still shocked after the demon attack and the appearance of this strange note. "Even if an imp somehow learnt to write – which is unlikely – their writing would be a lot scruffier than this. I think there's someone behind that attack."

"You mean there's someone that can control demons?" Mr. Bamboo cried. "They want us all to go to Shinshu. Could it be a trap?"

"Even if it is," Fuse sighed, "they say they'll kill us all if we don't go there anyway. It doesn't look like we have a choice."

* * *

Every guard in the city was on duty, preparing their weapons for an attack. The citizens had been instructed to stay inside unless they were capable of defending themselves against demons – with so many heading this way, they were going to need as much help defending Sei'an as possible.

And that meant the guards had _finally_ accepted that Kagu was strong enough to look after herself.

"It's about time!" she grumbled as she collected some more prayer slips.

"Now, Kagu, even if you are quite a powerful miko," Cho sighed, "you're still just a child. You can't blame them. Normally people don't send children into battles."

"Exactly," Kagu huffed. "I'm a _powerful_ miko. I can beat a few demons."

"Smaller demons, perhaps, but stronger ones can't be defeated with just a few slips of paper."

"Well apparently there aren't that many strong demons heading for us anyways, so I'll be fine," Kagu shrugged.

Miko Cho looked doubtful as Kagu left the palace building. "Just don't over-estimate yourself, Kagu."

"Don't worry, I won't," Kagu tutted. Although secretly she was terrified. What if there were any demons like that caterpillar one, too strong for her powers? She couldn't do anything about them. If a demon like that attacked her, the only way to defend herself would be to escape.

Just outside the gate she found Kaguya. Her eyes were closed and for a moment Kagu wondered if she'd somehow managed to fall asleep standing up, until she opened them and glanced over at her.

"The demons are here," she said quietly. "They're about to reach the guards at the entrance of the city."

"I'd better get back there then," Kagu said optimistically, holding a prayer slip in one hand. "You should find somewhere safe." The blonde girl didn't look like she'd be any good at fighting monsters, and she wasn't a miko.

"I'll be fine," Kaguya shrugged. "But what about you? You're going to fight the demons?"

"Hey, I'm a miko; I'm _trained_ to protect the city from things like this!" Kagu pointed out. She didn't want to get another lecture. "We'll clear out these demons in no time!"

She raced away before Kaguya could say anything else. Kagu was slightly scared of what she was about to face but at the same time excited. This would probably be one of the most important things she'd ever done.

And thus, the battle began.

* * *

The signs outside of Wep'keer flashed past as Oki raced along the snow-lined path, snowflakes sticking uncomfortably to his fur. He'd completely lost track of the demons, but the many slowly-filling footprints showed they had been through here.

_I hope I'm not too late…_

He couldn't help but remember the time last year when the twin demons had re-appeared and countless demons had attacked the village. A lot of the Oina had been killed then.

What if the same thing happened again?

Oki put on an extra burst of speed, reaching the entrance of the village and getting a feeling of dread at the scene. There were demons all over the place. They were mainly Namahages, but there was a bull charger in the centre of the clearing, thrashing around as it tried to hit a blue and white wolf with the sharp horns on its shield.

Racing towards the massive demon, Oki leapt onto its back, taking his sword in his jaws and stabbing it through the monster's neck. It gave a strangled roar and collapsed – Oki had to jump away before he got crushed – and then the monster burst into a massive flower.

Samickle morphed back into his human form, unsheathing his sword in preparation to get back into the battle. "Nicely done, Oki."

"Thanks, but now's not really the time for exchanging compliments," Oki said brusquely, doing the same.

"Help!"

They both glanced around at the sound of a high-pitched wail that sounded like it came from somewhere across the village.

"That sounded like Lika!" Samickle cried. "Oki, you go. I can handle the demons here on my own."

"I see," Oki muttered somewhat sarcastically, racing away in the direction of the sound. It sounded like Lika was somewhere near the place they called Snowy Waterfall – for obvious reasons. He quickly cleared the flight of steps and turned right, about to head down the next when a Namahage jumped in his way.

"Move it, demon!" he snapped, slicing through it and spraying the snow with demon blood. Yuck.

He hurried down the stone steps, trying his best not to slip on the ice. Before he reached the bottom there was another scream.

This time it wasn't Lika.

Oki froze, feeling like someone had just punched him in the chest.

"KAI!"


	27. The Fox and the Fate

**Oh Waka, you really cannot go one chapter without suffering in some way or other can you?**

**Also in my mind, Kamo and Abe are like the ultimate comedy duo.**

**Aaaaand in this chapter we have... Word's mostn hilarious correction-for-an-unknown-word yet.**

**It wanted to change Ubume to BUM.**

**Word fails aside... there seems to be a pattern emerging in these chapters. I always seem to finish them on Sunday evening O_o**

**Of course, that will probably change when I start Sixth Form...**

* * *

The invasion started when a massive fireball appeared in the air in front of the guards at Sei'an's entrance. Startled, most of them ran back into the city – the others held their ground, but the second the fireball vanished they were ambushed by countless demons. A few of the monsters stayed behind to attack the guards, but the rest broke through into Sei'an City and scattered.

Well, that would certainly get people's attention. No better way to scare the city dwellers than to have the demons actually attack them rather than just witnessing the fight.

But at least they seemed somewhat prepared. It was almost as if they'd expected the attack.

No time to try and figure out how they'd been warned. Right now there were more pressing matters to deal with.

Waka was somewhat torn over what to do. He didn't particularly want to go into Sei'an, and he doubted his help would do much… but he couldn't just stand around here and do nothing…

And where had Ninetails gone? It had seemed like the fox had been leading the attack but he wasn't anywhere in the city. He was nowhere to be seen on the cliffs surrounding the city either, which was where Waka was right now.

At last he spotted the kitsune on the ledge just above the entrance to the city. A guard tried to approach him with a spear, but a fierce growl from the demon sent the guard running back into the city. Ninetails was just watching the chaos unravel below. Lazy demon.

Although, he was quite a powerful demon, so if he wasn't actually getting involved with the fight then that was probably better for the people in the city…

Still, even from there Ninetails could probably use his brush powers to create cherry bombs or fireballs in the city, so the threat was still there. And since he was the one commanding all of the demons, if he was defeated then ultimately the invasion should stop… or at least become easier for the people in the city to deal with.

Now Waka knew what to do.

He used the wings on his hat to glide over the grass, landing quietly on the cliffs above the demon. Taking his katana from its sheath, he took a moment to aim and then threw it towards the kitsune.

Ninetails' ears twitched, and annoyingly he glanced around just in time, jumping out the way of the sword before it could slice clean through his neck. The katana embedded itself in the ground and the fox glared up at the one who'd thrown it.

Well, there was no point in escaping the fight now. And not only because Waka needed to get his sword back. He shrugged and hopped down from the cliff, landing a few metres away from the demon.

"Who the heck are you?" Ninetails snarled. "That was a stupid move. You can't defend yourself without a sword."

"Heh. A petit démon like you doesn't know much," Waka smiled, paying attention to the fact that red ink was dripping onto the grass from the end of the fox's tails. So this demon could use the Celestial Brush. Still, there were ways of getting around that…

The kitsune bared his teeth in a growl. "A mere human doesn't stand a chance against me!"

"A human, hm? One could almost take that as a compliment."

He noticed the fox flick one of its tails, more red ink splashing onto the grass. Geez, when it came to using the Celestial Brush, this fox was definitely a lot messier than Amaterasu…

A massive fireball appeared nary a foot in front of him, but Waka wasn't bothered. Having known Amaterasu for centuries, he knew how to block out brush techniques.

Of course, he couldn't do that and fight at the same time, but Ninetails didn't need to know that…

The fox demon looked surprised when the fireball vanished and his victim hadn't been burnt to a crisp. "What—"

"Is that the best you can do, mon ami? Honestly, I'd have thought the demon that made himself the self-proclaimed 'lord of Ryoshima' last year would be more powerful."

Ninetails narrowed his eyes, flicking his tail once more. Something that was assumingly supposed to be a cherry bomb appeared, exploding a moment later. The kitsune gave a snarl once he realised that once again Waka was unaffected.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but your petty duplicate of Amaterasu's powers will not work on me," Waka grinned. Humans had always been easy to annoy – Poncles too – but he'd never realised that it was so easy to piss off a demon. It was actually kind of hilarious.

"Don't think I'm defenceless without brush powers," Ninetails growled, slicing the nine-pronged sword on his back through the air. He really did seem to be just a demon copy of Amaterasu. How obnoxious.

"Trés bien." Waka drew the blade of light from his flute, transforming it into the beam sword Pillowtalk. "Because if you were, defeating you would be far too boring."

* * *

"Kai!" Oki shouted again as he raced across the snow. Due to the blizzard it was hard to see what was going on, but he could see a Namahage jumping around near the waterfall, making confused grunting noises, as Namahages often did.

Then he realised he could still hear voices.

"Stupid monster!" that was Lika's voice, upset but defiant. "No one hurts my sister! I won't let you hurt her again!"

"Lika, get away from here!" Kai cried, though the pain in her voice was easy to hear. "Or the demon will get you as well!"

Not wasting another moment, Oki sliced through the Namahage, causing it to fall to the ground and burst into a flower. Lika jumped back in surprise.

"Oki!" the young Oina cheered.

"Kai…" Oki breathed. "What happened?"

She didn't look in much of a state to reply. Kai was collapsed against one of the rocks, one hand wrapped around her side. A gash spread across her arm and stomach and the snow was already stained red. He couldn't see her expression since she had her mask on, but Oki was horrified enough to see her like this in the first place…

"That demon was about to hit me!" Lika wailed. "Sis came and saved me… but it hurt her instead… demon!"

At the warning, Oki span around to find another Namahage bounding towards them. It swung around the axe-like blade it carried and Oki only just had enough time to block the attack with his own sword. He kicked the demon away, and as it fell to the ground he stabbed it through the chest.

He turned back to the wounded Oina girl. "Kai… I… you'll be okay, we'll get you to Tuskle."

Kai shook her head. "She's with the others… at the top of the village. There are even more demons up there. S-Samickle was trying to stop any others… from getting that far."

It was too dangerous for them to stay in Wep'keer. There were demons everywhere, even in the quieter parts of the village. He needed to get Kai away from here before they got attacked again… "Then we'll take you to my house, there aren't any demons out in Kamui." Hopefully.

"I-I don't… think I… could walk that far…"

"I can carry you," Oki persisted. "But we have to get away from here. It's too dangerous."

* * *

"Get outta the way, demons!" Kagu snapped as she threw a bunch of prayer slips at the headless guardians that blocked the path. Their bodies crumbled and burst into flowers and Kagu continued to what was currently the busiest part of the city thanks to all the demons running amok.

Everywhere was madness, the helpless citizens running away from the demons and anyone who could fight trying to protect them. Ayame had been cornered by a bunch of imps, and Kagu was about to run over to help until she noticed Dandy hurry over to kill the demons.

"Demons, be gone!"

Kagu just about suppressed a sigh as she saw Mr. Flower throwing flower petals at a guardian. That was never going to work. She took out a prayer slip and slapped it over the massive stone on the demon's back, driving the evil from it and creating another rock pile that became a flower shortly after.

"Mr. Flower, you should go back inside where it's safe," she advised.

"But what will become of the cherry blossoms if the city is overrun by demons?"

"I'm sure the trees will be fine," Kagu rolled her eyes. He sure was eccentric. "They're a lot stronger than you are. Just leave the fighting to us."

Mr. Flower hesitated for a moment, and Kagu was worried he'd insist on helping them fight. Then she sighed in relief as he continued. "Very well."

"Phew," Kagu muttered quietly as Mr. Flower went back to his house, which the demons were for some reason staying away from – probably because of all the trees and flowers.

"Hey! Come back with those herbs, you monsters!"

Kagu turned to see a couple of imps bounding in her direction from Dr. Bluebeard's house, carrying some pots. Hurriedly she threw prayer slips at them before they crashed into her and they collapsed, dropping whatever it was they were carrying and bursting into flowers. Kagu picked up one of the pots, examining it curiously. It definitely had a strong smell.

Dr. Bluebeard raced over, breathing heavily. Clearly he didn't exercise much. "Ah, thank you. Those imps made off with some of the herbs from my clinic."

"You'd better hurry up and get back there before any other demons try and break in," Kagu muttered, handing him the herbs the imps had dropped.

"Yes. We've had one injury already from all this fighting, and if there's any more I need to be prepared – and have enough herbs to treat them."

As Dr. Bluebeard hurried back to the clinic, Kagu headed over to what seemed like the thick of battle. Nearby she could see Kamo and Abe fighting an Ubume. As Abe tried to slice through it with a sword the demon blocked his attack with a parasol, but at the same time Kamo stabbed it from behind and the demon collapsed, letting out a squawk as it faded into a flower. Those two made a pretty good team.

There was a strange noise like something exploding somewhere and Kagu glanced around, trying to work out where the sound had come from. Yet a screech caught her attention before she found out, and she saw a crow tengu throw a skull through the air towards the two men, who had also been distracted by the noise.

"Look out!" she shouted, running over and jumping between them and the demon, putting her hands together and taking a deep breath.

The tengu rushed towards them, blade slicing through the air. It hit the barrier of electricity that had appeared in the air and let out another screech, falling over backwards. The barrier vanishing, Kagu took a bunch of prayer slips and threw them at the demon, killing it.

"Wow," Kamo muttered. "So you really are a miko, huh? Guess I underestimated you."

"Too right!" Kagu tutted. "Besides… I owed you guys for saving me from that caterpillar demon."

"Fair enough," Kamo smiled. "Come on, Abe, there're demons to kill."

The other former Tao Trooper didn't appear to hear him.

"Abe?" Kagu repeated. Still no response. She jabbed him in the side. "Hey, listen when people are talking to you!"

"Ow!" Abe glanced around at last, rubbing his side. "Geez, no need to hit me."

"Now isn't the time to be drifting off!" Kagu snapped.

Abe ignored her comment, much to Kagu's annoyance. "Kamo… look over there. Am I seeing things?"

"What? Where?" Kamo tried to work out what he was looking at. So did Kagu. Something at the entrance of the city? She could see something that looked like a large fox on one of the ledges there, and judging by the amount of tails it had it was probably some kind of demon… and there was someone else there as well.

"Over there!" Abe pointed to what Kagu had just been looking at. "Kamo, that… that looks like the captain!"

* * *

Waka dodged to one side as he narrowly avoided getting hit by the demon sword. Ninetails was a lot faster than he looked. The nine-pronged sword cut a grove in the grass and Waka reflected upon how getting hit by the blade would probably be very painful, especially since it appeared to have some kind of electrical current running through it.

He ducked to avoid the sword again and went to retrieve his katana before the fox could try and make another attack. Whether Ninetails recognised him from the fight last night he wasn't certain, but he didn't doubt that the demon would mind killing him either way.

Ninetails was obviously irritated by how easily Waka dodged his attacks. The demon kept slicing the blade through the air, but each time he tried, the prophet simply jumped to the side, every now and then managing to wound the fox with his own swords. Yet scarring the demon's shoulders wouldn't be enough to kill it. At least it might slow him down…

Assumingly since Ninetails was basically a giant fox then the way to kill him would probably be to aim for the throat. But that was too dangerous given the speed that demon could attack. All Waka could do was wait for the fox to let his guard down.

However, that might take a while…

"Captain!"

Waka froze as he heard the shout and glanced around to see Abe racing from the city, Kamo and a young girl not far behind.

"Abe, what—" he started, before breaking off to jump aside as the demon swung the blade at him again, this time narrowly missing. That had been too close… "Stay back. It's dangerous here. That fox isn't as weak as an imp."

"But…" Abe skidded to a halt just out of range of the demon's attacks.

_Let's just hope he listens to me,_ Waka thought as he dodged the sword again, slashing the demon's side as he raced past. He'd been trying to avoid meeting anyone from the city, and he certainly didn't want to put anyone in danger by allowing them to help him fight.

"Stop moving around!" Ninetails roared.

Waka expected him to try and attack with the sword again, but instead the fox just span around. Before the prophet realised what was happening, one of the demon's tails smashed into his side, and he was flung backwards against the cliff.

* * *

The snow meant it was hard to see anything as they followed Lika out into Kamui. Oki didn't know whether the young Oina really understood much of what was going on, but she was definitely determined to help her sister.

"Lika, don't go too far ahead," Oki warned. He just hoped that his theory was right and that all of the demons were in the village. Carrying wounded Kai on his back, he wouldn't be able to fight anything off if they were attacked…

At least Kai wasn't that heavy. But Oki was really starting to get worried now. She felt awfully limp, and the wound the Namahage had given her was still bleeding. The only thing that proved she was still alive was her heartbeat and the sound of her pained breathing.

"Is sis going to be okay?" Lika asked, glancing back, her voice filled with worry.

Oki didn't reply. He honestly didn't know.

Until now, he hadn't realised how scared he was by the thought of losing her…

"It's alright, Lika," Kai replied weakly. "I'll be okay."

"Yeah," Oki smiled, even though he had his mask on. That was what he wanted to believe, that Kai would be fine. It was only a flesh wound, after all…

Suddenly there was a growl from somewhere behind them, and Oki froze. Had a demon followed them? They'd managed to avoid being spotted by any monsters on their way out of the village…

"What's that?" Lika gasped. "I-Is that a monster…?"

Oki turned around to see what had followed them. It was some kind of beast that had something that looked like a flower bud for a body, and a creepy-looking face… it definitely wasn't something he'd ever seen before. If this was a demon then it must have been something from the south.

"Lika, run!" Oki ordered. "It's a demon." And he couldn't fight it off or run fast with Kai on his back… and there was no way he was leaving her now.

Something flew from the bud and landed in the snow not far away, exploding into some kind of gas. Probably wasn't a good idea to stay around here.

He spun around and headed down the slope as fast as he could. More of those strange objects, which looked like some kind of fruit, were falling around them, and the falling snow did nothing to disperse the gas they gave off.

Oki tried to avoid breathing any of it in, but nonetheless the world was starting to spin.

_I just have to get Kai away from here…_

His vision blurred. Then his legs gave way underneath him and he blacked out.


	28. Aftermath

**a.k.a. the chapter with possibly one of the most awkward scenes in the whole story. Debatably. xD**

**I just kicked the weird Sunday-pattern in the butt aw yeah.**

**What I find somewhat interesting is that as of a chapter or two ago, AotD became the longest story I've ever written. And there's stil quite a bit to go xD**

**Soo in this chapter we learn that apparently, Issun isn't keen on seafood.**

**Oh and check out what epic breakdancer got a cameo in this story. Mmhmm.**

* * *

The world span for a moment as Waka tried to remember what had just happened. His senses had temporarily gone hazy, and it took him a few seconds to recall getting thrown against the cliff.

_Must have hit my head. I hope I wasn't out for too long…_

When everything finally stopped spinning he realised that Ninetails was still there, but the demon was too distracted to try and finish him off. Kamo and Abe were fighting against the giant fox. It seemed strange at first that he wasn't using his brush powers to attack until Waka realised that there were pieces of paper stuck on each of the kitsune's tails, sparking with white electricity. The girl he'd seen earlier was standing a little way off with her hands together, as if she was praying.

_Prayer slips, huh. That girl must be a miko. _She was a rather young one though. It was surprising that she had enough power to cancel out the demon's attacks.

Still, he couldn't just lie around here forever. He needed to help them fight.

Getting unsteadily to his feet, he took a moment to make sure nothing was broken before retrieving his swords, which he'd dropped when he hit the cliff. His shoulder hurt, so it was probably bruised from the impact, and he couldn't help noticing that his hat had come loose, a few strands of gold now hanging around his face. No time to sort that out now. He pushed his helmet more firmly onto his head so that it wouldn't fall off, and raced over to rejoin the battle.

Ninetails was using the sword to defend himself rather than attack now that he was outnumbered. That didn't stop him lashing out with teeth and claws at the same time, however. Kamo had a tear in one of his sleeves and it was stained red, so he'd already been wounded.

As soon as he saw Waka rejoining the fight, Ninetails obviously decided against trying to fight off three people at once without his full power. He leapt away onto the ledge above, letting out a loud yowl.

When he finished, he glared down at them again. "You escaped with your lives this time," he snarled. "But warn the people of the city that if they are not in Shinshu to witness Amaterasu's demise in two days time then they will all be killed."

"What!?" Kamo cried.

"Amaterasu?" the girl gasped. "You mean the sun goddess?"

"That is all I've been ordered to tell you," Ninetails growled.

The other demons were racing out of the city now. Presumably the fox's yowl had been the call to retreat.

"Tell me, fox," Waka said calmly, "why is it that you work for Tero? You're a demon. There can't possible be anything for you to gain from following a human around."

"That's none of your business!" Ninetails snapped, his remaining eye narrowing. "I could ask the same to that wretched goddess as to why you're so important to her. I can't wait to watch your pain when that pathetic wolf gets killed right in front of your eyes!"

"Don't be stupid!" the girl shouted. "As if anyone could kill a god!"

"Foolish child," Ninetails growled quietly. "You'll see."

And with that, the fox demon turned and fled, vanishing from sight with the rest of the demons.

_You can't wait to watch my pain, huh? _Waka thought silently. _Well, let's just hope it won't come to that._

"Captain!"

"Hm?" he snapped back to reality. "What—huh!?"

He was completely taken aback when Abe ran over and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Abe cheered. "We thought you were dead!"

"Uh… good to see you too, Abe…" Waka muttered awkwardly, gently pushing him away. Sometimes he seriously wondered if there was something wrong with that guy. "But non, I'm very much still alive."

"We all wondered what happened when you suddenly vanished," Kamo admitted, looking slightly embarrassed at Abe's enthusiasm. "Why did you leave, anyway?"

"Ah… long story." Somehow he didn't think it'd be that believable if he told them he'd spent the past year on the Celestial Plain with a bunch of gods.

"I didn't know you had long hair, captain," Abe commented, sounding surprised. "It looks nice. Why'd you cover it up?"

"Oui, well, like I said, long story," Waka muttered. He didn't really feel like explaining anything right now. Time to change the subject. "Who's the kid?"

"Hey, I'm not just any kid!" the girl protested, storming over. "I'm Kagu, the actress and Sei'an's most powerful young miko!"

"Most powerful young attitude as well, I see," he raised an eyebrow. "Do you speak to everyone like that?"

"Humph. I don't even get a thanks for stopping that demon from burning everyone alive," Kagu tutted arrogantly.

"Well, if it's just a thanks you're looking for, then merci beaucoup," Waka smiled. This kid's attitude reminded him of a certain bug he knew…

Kagu looked at him for a moment – it was hard to tell if it was a glare or not. "You know, you look familiar."

"Quoi?" Waka blinked.

"Well… the captain did live in the city until about a year ago…" Abe pointed out.

"We did work for Himiko back when we were the Tao Troopers," Kamo added.

"No, I don't think I've met you before," Kagu shrugged, looking slightly confused now. "I'd remember the accent if I did. I guess you just reminded me of someone else or something."

"Trés bien," Waka replied evenly, although he doubted that was very likely. "Well, you'd better pass that message from the fox to the people in the city and make sure everyone's okay."

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Abe exclaimed.

"Oui, I don't particularly want to go into the city."

"So some guy is really planning to kill Amaterasu?" Kagu asked, eyes wide. "And they're going to send demons to kill us if we don't go to Shinshu in two days?"

"I don't understand," Kamo said helplessly.

"It'd be best to just go along with his scheme for now," Waka sighed. "That way less people will get hurt. But I _will_ stop his plans from succeeding, don't you worry."

* * *

"Look out!"

"Huh? Whoa!" Issun jumped out of the way just in time as he nearly got hit by a fish. "What the heck!?"

"Sorry, Issun," Kokari apologised, casting his fishing line back into the water. "At least I warned you."

"How can you even catch anything here?" Issun tutted. Kokari was sat on one of the rocks next to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall in Kamiki. It was surprising there were any fish here in the first place, let alone that Kokari was able to catch such big ones. He prodded the fish and then jumped back as it started flopping around on the ground. "Aah! Ew! Gross!"

"It's not dead yet, silly," Nanami laughed. She was sat beside the rock – if you could call it sitting when she didn't even have any legs – probably so that Kokari wouldn't catch her by accident.

"I've never been much of a seafood person," Issun muttered, hopping over to join them. "I can't believe people can actually eat things like that." Of course, Ammy would eat just about anything edible…

"Fish aren't that bad," Nanami shrugged.

"But you're a mermaid," Issun blinked, tipping his head to one side. "Isn't it a bit… cannibalistic… for you to eat seafood?"

"Hey, I'm a mermaid, not a fish!" Nanami protested. "Besides, there are plenty of sea creatures that eat fish."

"Eh, if you say so," the poncle shrugged. He glanced at the steadily-growing pile of fish nearby. "You plan on making a feast or somethin'?"

"If what you said is right, there will be a lot of people heading this way soon," Kokari shrugged. "Might as well try and get enough food for them."

"I'm not sure you can feed the whole of Nippon with a pile of fish," Issun pointed out. "But hey, don't let me rain on your parade."

"Well, there's Yakushi Village not far from here as well," the boy added. "They should have some food and places to stay there as well."

"True." He cast a glance around the village. Issun had spent the morning telling the villagers what was going on and warning them to expect a demon attack. Susano had offered to push another boulder into the entrance of the village to stop any demons from getting in, but Issun had managed to talk him out of it.

"Besides, what if Kuni comes back? If you block the entrance, he won't be able to get back into the village, will he?" he'd pointed out.

"You're right," Susano mused. "I still think I should go out and look for him."

"I… don't think that's such a good idea," Issun shook his head. "I don't know what happened, but he didn't seem like he was ready to come back yet. If you go out there hunting for him you'll probably scare the daylights out of the poor kid."

Now he was just trying to kill some time. There was nothing they could do until Tero brought Ammy out into Shinshu, and that would be in two days time. He'd already been to Yakushi Village to warn the people there, and now there wasn't really anything else for Issun to do other than wait around.

He missed Ammy…

There was the sound of slow footsteps behind them and Issun glanced around to see Mr. Orange hobbling along the path. "Hey, Mr. Orange! Whatcha up to?"

The old man stopped for a moment to look over at him. "I'm going to go up to the sun deck and pray for Amaterasu's safety. Perhaps the Konohana Shuffle will protect our goddess!"

"Erm… I don't think a dance is gonna save Ammy, gramps," Issun pointed out. "But hey, if you think it'll work, you go for it…" Mr. Orange's dances were very… interesting, to say the least.

The three of them watched as Mr. Orange continued on his way through the village.

"Is he always like that?" Nanami asked.

"Pretty much," Issun shrugged.

* * *

Waka spent the rest of the day watching over the city to make sure that no one had been too badly injured during the demon invasion. There were a lot of people with wounds of some sort, and an old man with a blue moustache was hurrying around and giving out herbs for them. News of the demons' message spread like wildfire, and already a lot of people looked prepared to leave. From the few conversations he could hear, it seemed like everyone was planning to head east together the next afternoon – safety in numbers.

Deciding that there wasn't really much point in going back to Shinshu until then, Waka had headed back out to Ryoshima and was now sat by the guardian sapling there. He wanted to sort out his hat before he ended up coming across anyone else.

He took the helmet off, releasing his hair and allowing it to trail down his back. It really annoyed him sometimes. Not only did it remind him of where he was from, but it was hard to fit it back inside the hat…

In an effort to take his mind off things, Waka glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting now, the moon just faintly visible in the orange and red gradients of the heavens.

He'd told the others he was going to stop Tero's plans. Could he? The last time he'd fought against that man he'd nearly been killed.

Still, that time he'd been alone. This time just about everyone in Nippon was going to be there.

However, there had to be a catch to that. Tero did seem to have a lot of power, but could he really take on everyone in Nippon?

Of course, he had a lot of demons behind him. That might be a problem. But they were going to find some way around it. They had to.

Waka wasn't going to let Amaterasu die again.

"I-it's you… you're…"

He froze as he heard the voice. The one he'd hoped he wouldn't hear for a while.

Still startled, he glanced over at the winding path that lead up to the guardian sapling. He hadn't thought anyone would come up here, especially so late, but obviously he was wrong.

But there she was, looking somewhat shocked.

_Kaguya!_


	29. Night of Snow

**Wow, short chapter o_o**

**What I find somewhat creepy is people keep foreshadowing in reviews. A while back someone asked when we were returning to Kamui when we hadn't been there for a while and then the beginning of the next chapter was in Kamui, and now someone just said they hoped no one was going to die and well... xD**

**Cue the most unoriginal death scene ever~**

**(Well, I warned you that there was going to be at least one death in this story... and this isn't the last one either...)**

**Also I can't get over how "pas de soucis" (which apparently means "no worries" in French) looks like "pass the sauces".**

* * *

"You… you're from the Moon Tribe?"

Finally getting over his initial shock, Waka hesitated. He wasn't sure he even wanted to reply. Eventually he just looked away pointedly. "Oui. So what?"

"Um… sorry if I surprised you… I heard someone else had been in the fight, so… I went to make sure they were okay…"

"Well, I'm fine." A thought came across his mind and he glanced back over at her once more. "How did you find me? No one comes up here."

"I could sense you were here," Kaguya shrugged. "I-I… I can see what's going on in most of Nippon…"

"It was you that warned the city about the demon attack, wasn't it?"

"Y-yes…?" she blinked, surprised that he knew.

"Trés bien." At least the conversation had drifted away from the tribe. Waka didn't like talking about it. He was just glad that she hadn't recognised him.

There was an awkward silence.

"Is… is that why you asked me if I was from Nippon?"

"Quoi?"

"When I met you the other day… you asked me if I was from Nippon."

Waka gave a half-hearted laugh. "Désolé, I haven't seen anyone like me in well over two hundred years."

"Oh, okay. I understand." Kaguya was silent for a moment, glancing up at the pale moon in the sky. "You wear that hat to hide that you're from the tribe, don't you?"

"Oui," Waka replied simply, staring at the grass.

"Why?"

"Why not."

"Huh?" Kaguya seemed slightly taken aback. "It's just… you talk about the tribe as if it's something to be ashamed of. I don't see what the problem is."

Waka just laughed. "I'm not surprised. You wouldn't remember anything."

"What? What wouldn't I remember?"

"You know how the tribe was destroyed, don't you."

"We were attacked by demons," Kaguya answered, sounding confused and slightly more nervous than before. "That's… that's what I remember…"

"Oui, but those demons didn't just appear out of thin air, did they?" Waka snapped, standing up to face her. "Demons never existed in the world until we created them! You think that is something to be proud of?"

"Well, no, but—"

"It's thanks to the Moon Tribe that demon attacks like that happen," he sighed. "An idiot brought those demons down to Nippon, and now because of our creation this world is in turmoil."

"But… you weren't one of the scientists who actually created them, were you?"

"… Non… but I don't see how that changes anything."

"Well, neither of us actually created the demons, did we?" Kaguya pointed out. "So it's not exactly our fault."

Waka didn't reply, instead just clenching his fist in frustration. Trying to convince him that none of this was his fault wasn't going to work. It _was_ his fault that the demons were in Nippon…

"Anyway, I doubt their intentions were to create monsters… I can vaguely remember some people from the tribe, and they weren't evil enough to purposely create demons."

Even if that did make sense, Waka still wasn't convinced. He let out a long sigh. This was why he didn't like talking about the Moon Tribe. "Well, if that's what you want to believe, trés bien. It's better if you keep thinking that way."

Kaguya hesitated, as if she wasn't quite sure how to reply. "I'm… sorry if I upset you…"

"Pas de soucis," Waka muttered. "You should get back to the city. There might still be demons roaming around here; it's dangerous, especially at night."

"Oh… okay," Kaguya turned to leave. "And… thanks for telling me. About the tribe."

"De rein," he sighed as she vanished below the spiralling paths. He'd never be proud of his origins, no matter what anyone said to him, and nothing would change that.

It seemed that Kaguya was another person he envied for their optimism. Even when faced with great danger, grief, guilt… other people still managed to see the brighter side of things.

Why couldn't he do the same?

* * *

The first thing Oki noticed when he woke was the sound of a crackling fire. His vision was blurred and his head hurt.

_Oww… what happened…?_

He stared into space for a moment as he waited for his eyes to focus. Where was he? This didn't look like his house…

Then he noticed the rows of books and scrolls lining the walls.

_Oh great. It finally happened. I woke up in hell…_

He sat up groggily, taking note of a bandage on his arm. What had happened to him? He couldn't remember. His head felt warm even though his mask lay on the ground nearby.

"I see you're finally awake then, Oki."

Samickle's voice made him jump and he glanced around hurriedly, wincing as that made everything start spinning. "Samickle? Why the heck am I in your house? What happened?"

"I found you, Kai and Lika collapsed just outside the village getting attacked by a demon. Tuskle said that it had given off some kind of poisonous gas. You should be fine in a few days, though."

"Kai!" Oki gasped, finally remembering what happened. "Where is she? Are she and Lika okay?"

"Well, Lika wasn't too badly hurt, but…" Samickle started. "Why were you outside of the village anyway?"

"Kai was injured; we were trying to get her away from the demons! Now tell me where she is!" Oki demanded.

"Ah, I see," Samickle responded, ignoring the way Oki was speaking to him. "Well, she's with Tuskle at the moment… maybe you should go and see her, unless you need more rest first…"

"I'm fine," Oki said hurriedly, getting to his feet and trying to gain his balance. When he finally felt like he could walk again, he headed outside.

* * *

It seemed like the snowstorm had finally subsided. As Oki headed up the path next to Laochi Lake, only a few snowflakes swirled down to join the others on the ground. Perhaps this meant that the demons had finally gone.

Still, there was no time to celebrate yet. He had to get to Tuskle's house. At least without the raging storm walking was a lot easier.

As he reached the top of the slope where Affun Gate stood, Tuskle came out of her hut to meet him.

"You've come to see Kai, haven't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Oki nodded. "Is she okay?"

Tuskle glanced away, as if she couldn't look him in the eye. "It doesn't look good. Because she was wounded already, the poison affected her more than it did you or Lika. I think she's still managing to hang on because she wants to see you."

At that moment, Oki felt like someone had hit him again. As if he'd just been stabbed through the heart.

"Oki?"

He snapped back to reality. Not waiting to give a reply, he hurried past Tuskle and burst into the hut. "Kai!"

"I'll just have a look around and see if I can salvage any herbs from the snow," Tuskle called. Clearly she was intending to leave them alone for now. No plants would be alive after a storm that long.

Oki barely heard her. "Kai…"

The injured Oina girl was lying on a bed in the corner of the room, covered in bloodstained bandages and her coat wrapped tightly around her. She looked very pale, even for someone who lived in Kamui. She was still breathing, so at least she was still alive.

"Oki? Is that you?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes opening slightly.

"Yeah… yeah it's me…" Oki walked unevenly over to the bedside and fell to his knees. "Kai… I just… I wanted to save you… I'm sorry! This is my fault!"

"No it's not," Kai protested. "It's my own fault for getting hit by that Namahage in the first place. You did your best. I couldn't ask for more than that."

"I know, but… I'm so sorry, Kai…"

"I already told you, it's not your fault," Kai sighed. "But please… could you look after Lika for me?"

"Huh?" Oki blinked, trying to convince himself that he was misunderstanding what she was saying. "You can look after Lika yourself as soon as you're better!"

"Oki… you know that won't happen…"

"What—no!" his voice caught in his throat. "Kai… you can't… you can't leave me…"

"I'm sorry, Oki… I'm glad I got to see you one last time…"

"No… Kai, no…! Please! I-I don't know what I'd do without you, I… I…" he trailed off.

He put his arms around Kai, lifting her into a hug, holding her close, since he'd probably never be able to again.

"I'm sorry… I love you, Kai."

She smiled slightly.

"I love you too, Oki."


	30. Preparation

**Well now. That took a week again xD**

**FILLER CHAPTER EYUP. And now we're about to go on a PLOTHOLE MISSION.**

**Or something.**

**Also, this is the first and only time a scene will be in Yakushi Village, since I totally forgot about it's existance until a few chapters ago.**

**And... chapter 30? O_o**

* * *

Shinshu Field. Kagu hadn't been here in ages. The last time she'd seen this place, she'd been with Pooch. She half expected there to be a bunch of demons waiting here, ready to ambush them.

That was what many others had suspected too, so they'd sent a party on ahead to make sure there was no danger awaiting them at the plains. Kagu was in the lead, followed by Kamo, Miko Cho and a couple of the canine warriors, Rei and Shin. She remembered the dogs from a few months ago when Princess Fuse had brought them to the theatre to help with one of the performances. The group travelling from the city had been joined by the people from Kusa Village on their way here.

"It looks safe enough," she commented, glancing around. Nothing but grass and plants, and the Moon Shrine in the distance.

"Maybe we should have a look around, just incase," Kamo suggested. "If there are any demons here to ambush us, they might be hiding."

"Jamais peur, there are no demons in these fields."

Kagu didn't even have a chance to work out where the voice was coming from when there was a sudden gust of wind. Then someone landed on the ground next to her.

"What the—!?"

It was that guy that had been fighting the demon fox yesterday. She hadn't seen him with the rest of the group. "How the heck did you get here!? And how do _you_ know there aren't any demons?"

"I flew, obviously," he shrugged, flicking one of the wings attached to his hat. "And I had a look around before you got here. They won't send out any demons just yet. He doesn't want to kill any people who would otherwise witness his show."

"Who's 'he'?" Cho blinked. "Are you saying that someone has been behind these demon attacks?"

"I'm sure you'll know him soon enough," the man sighed. "But still, it should be safe to head through the fields for now. You won't get attacked. Au revoir!"

Another gust of wind blew past and he used the wings on his helmet to fly over the cliffs nearby and out of sight.

"He can fly!?" Kagu blinked in somewhat disbelief. She glanced at Kamo. "If that guy was really your captain, I'm surprised you guys weren't completely bonkers too."

"Well, I wouldn't know about being _completely_ bonkers," Kamo laughed.

Still, Kagu couldn't help thinking that guy looked somewhat familiar. Maybe she had seen him last year after all.

_Ah well, I'm sure I'll remember eventually._

* * *

Issun was lying on a rock, staring up at the clouds in the sky as he tried once again to formulate a plan to rescue Amaterasu. The stone was uncomfortable but if he lay on the grass then there was a high chance someone would end up stepping on him. He'd learnt that from experience…

Tomorrow was the day Tero was planning to kill Ammy. That would also be the only time they'd be able to save her. But how? Knowing Tero, he'd probably have a bunch of demons with him and a bunch of ways to stop them ruining his plans.

And since there was no way of finding out _how_ he planned to kill the goddess, coming up with a plan to beat him wasn't going to be easy…

Issun let out a long sigh. It looked like they were just going to have to decide what to do when the time came. Leap before you think. Yup, that was their motto alright.

Then a shadow fell over him.

"I see you're lazing around as usual, eh, my little bouncing friend?"

"Bah," Issun grumbled, sitting up and glaring at Waka. "You're one to talk, prophet. Took you long enough to defeat a couple of demons."

"Hm, I don't think sending an insect to fight a nine-tailed fox would have been much of a battle," Waka teased. "So maybe it's a good thing that you remained in Kamiki."

"Pff. You? Fighting that fox wench? I bet you just watched the battle from a safe distance like you always did before."

"As little faith in me as usual, I see," Waka sighed in mock dismay.

"Don't tell me you actually managed to _defeat_ that thing?"

"Well, depends what you mean by defeat. He ran off before the battle ended."

"Hah! I'm not surprised," Issun laughed. "Probably got bored and wanted to find a better challenge."

"Au contraire, when that fox ran off the invasion ended," Waka shrugged. "I'd say that counts as a defeat, oui? Anyway, everyone from Sei'an and Kusa will be here soon. Methinks you should let the villagers know they're coming."

"Me? Why can't _you_ do that?" Issun tutted.

"Excusez-moi, but I thought _you_ were the Celestial Envoy, mon ami," Waka pointed out.

"Bah. Fine," Issun grumbled. He waited until Waka had left to add, "lazy prophet."

* * *

_What time is it…?_

Kagu sighed, finally pushing away the covers and getting out of bed, wandering over to the window. She'd woken up at least half an hour ago and couldn't get back to sleep. Looking at the horizon, she could just about see a faint slither of light. At least it wasn't long until morning. Nothing wrong with getting up early.

They'd arrived at Yakushi Village yesterday afternoon; it had been hard to find places for everyone in the city to stay between here and the other nearby village, Kamiki. Kagu and her parents were staying in one of the rooms at the inn, which had filled up quickly. After that, everyone had either had to try and find someone to stay with or spent the night out under the stars. At least the weather wasn't bad.

She wondered what was going to happen today. Whoever it was that had sent the demons out had wanted them to get here, and now they had. It was nearly two days since that demon attack. The fox demon had said something about killing the sun goddess Amaterasu.

_Pooch… I hope you're not caught up in this as well…_

Ah, what was she kidding? She hadn't seen Pooch in months. She'd thought he'd stayed in Kamiki with Kuni, but ever since she'd met the boy out at Ryoshima…

What if Pooch was still at Kamiki? Well, there was only one way to find out…

Even if he wasn't, she wanted to see Kamiki Village again. And since more or less everyone in Nippon was around here at the moment, maybe she might come across some of the people they met last year.

* * *

The sun still hadn't appeared in the sky by the time Kagu reached Kamiki. She'd decided to wear her miko outfit today since she might need her powers, and the pockets were good for keeping prayer slips in – and there probably wouldn't be time to change later.

She made sure to keep all her senses alert for any danger on her way to the village, although Shinshu had been very quiet recently. It was almost hard to believe there were any demons around at all.

Kamiki was quiet as well, although that was probably because everyone was still asleep. It wasn't even daybreak yet; it would be a few hours before the villagers got up.

What was she going to do now? Even Kagu wasn't arrogant enough to go around waking everyone up. If Pooch was actually here then hopefully he'd find her. He was a puppy, after all; he had good senses. Deciding there wasn't much else to do other than wait around, Kagu wandered over to one of the rocks near the waterfall and climbed onto it, sitting down and glancing around at the village.

The place hadn't changed that much since she'd been here last; the same cherry blossom trees scattered around; petals floating on the breeze; the turnip patch with an odd-looking scarecrow guarding over it. She could see the Konohana tree above the cliffs, as if it were watching over the village. Maybe it was? It was supposed to be a guardian tree, after all.

As she continued to scan the cliffs nearby, she found out that she wasn't the only one who was up early. That man who seemed to keep popping up everywhere was sat on the cliffs, watching the horizon as if waiting for the sun to rise.

Kagu still couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling like she'd seen him somewhere before. And yet she knew that if she'd met someone like that she'd have remembered them. Who was that guy?

"Hey, Kagu!"

"Wha—!?" she cried, nearly falling off of the rock she was sitting on in surprise. There wasn't anyone around the village yet. It took her a moment to realise that the voice had come from behind her, and she glanced back at the water in confusion.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been?"

"Nanami!" Kagu tutted. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Oh, sorry," the mermaid apologised. She sunk deeper into the water and glanced around. "You should probably keep your voice down though. You'll be waking everyone up otherwise."

"It's not _my_ fault," Kagu hissed. She let out a deep sigh. Now wasn't the time to be arguing with old friends. "But yeah, I'm fine. How long have you been in Kamiki?"

"A few days. I was in Agata, but we all had to leave when the forest fire started."

"Oh yeah," Kagu muttered, remembering how ravaged the woods had looked when they passed through them. She glanced up at the cliffs once more. "Do you know who that guy is?"

"Hmm?" Nanami followed her glance. "Oh, him. I think he was with Amaterasu and the others when they arrived – before the goddess got captured, that is."

"No, I mean… do you know _who_ he is?" Kagu explained. "I keep thinking I've seen him somewhere before, but I know I haven't. He's got a strange accent, I would have remembered that."

"A strange accent, huh?" Nanami looked thoughtful. "You know, now that you mention it, he looks kinda familiar to me too… oh! I remember now!"

"Huh?"

"When me and Squiddy went to the Knowing Jewel last year, we saw him in a vision. I think his name's Waka or something."

"Waka! You mean…?"

"Yeah. He's the guy who created Kurow."

So that was why he looked so familiar. Kurow had been a doll copy of him. Created to be a vessel for Akuro.

"Wow," Kagu muttered. "He must be a jerk."

"What?" Nanami blinked. "Why?"

"He created Kurow just so he could die!" Kagu snapped. "Who would be mean enough to do that?"

"Quiet!" Nanami persisted. "Everyone's still asleep, remember. Anyway, for all we know there could have been other reasons. I mean, if it wasn't for him, we'd never even have met Kurow. And that was all in the past. No use crying over fallen leaves."

"Humph," Kagu huffed, glancing away. Then she remembered the reason she'd come here. "Oh, have you seen Pooch around here?"

"Squiddy? I haven't seen him since the forest fire," Nanami shrugged.

"The forest fire?" Kagu gasped. "He didn't—"

"No, no, he got out of the fire," Nanami shook her head. "He was looking for Kuni at the time, so I guess he went with him. I think Issun saw Kuni not long ago, so they're probably still near Shinshu. We're bound to run into them eventually."

"If they're still nearby, we gotta go find them!" Kagu insisted, hopping down from the rock. "With all the demons around lately, they could be in trouble."

"What—Kagu, how are we supposed to find them?"

"Well, they're not here or in Yakushi Village, so that only leaves Hana Valley. We should go look for them there."

"You were just saying about how dangerous it is out there. It'd be dangerous for _us_ to go out looking for _them_ too."

"Well, when we find them it'll be safety in numbers." She raced towards the bridge.

"Kagu, wait!"

Kagu skidded to a halt, glancing back. "What?" she hissed. "Keep your voice down! Everyone's still asleep, you know!"

Nanami rolled her eyes. "How am I supposed to get there? Incase you hadn't noticed, I can't walk!"

"Well, I'm not carrying you!" Kagu tutted, wandering back over to the pool of water. "I'll go on my own."

"That's even more dangerous!" Nanami pointed out. "Look… go wait by the guardian sapling in Shinshu for me. I'll swim around to the river."

"Fine then," Kagu sighed. "Just don't take too long!"


	31. A Friend In Need

**Why are all the longest chapters in this story mainly filler aaaaaahhh**

**Well anyways, in this chapter we go on the FILLER QUEST.**

**But I also think this is the last filler needed for the rest of the story (other than another past-chapter) so that's good at least xD**

**And wow Samickle you are a jerk huh.**

**Also LOOK WHO'S FINALLY BACK.**

**What I find strange is, writing this story has made me slightly ship KunixKagu... O_o**

* * *

Kagu spent a few minutes scanning the plains of Shinshu before she ventured out into them. It would take a while for Nanami to swim around to the river here, and Kagu didn't want to get ambushed while she was waiting for her friend.

Everything was eerily quiet because it was so early. It was dark as well; the sun was only just beginning to rise, turning the sea on the horizon an orange colour, and the moon was so low in the sky by now that it didn't offer any light. A faint breeze made the grass sway slightly and the leaves of the trees lining the path rustled.

This place was actually pretty creepy at night…

Taking a deep breath, Kagu strode out into the fields. She was a miko; there was nothing for her to fear. If she looked nervous or weak then if there was anything out here it'd be more likely to attack her. An owl hooted in the distance and she flinched.

_Stop being such a scaredy-cat! There's nothing to be scared of, s_he thought, frustrated at herself for being such a wimp. Nothing was happening out here until later; if some guy was intending to kill the sun god there wouldn't be much point doing it while it was still dark, no one would be able to see anything. Not to mention that everyone would be too tired if they'd just been woken up…

Eventually she made it to the guardian sapling and sat down on one of its roots to wait. Not the most comfortable place to sit but at least it was better than that rock in Kamiki.

The stars in the sky were starting to fade by now, the faint light that poured over the horizon from the sun starting to illuminate the grass in a pretty orange colour. A few cherry blossom petals fluttered down from the guardian tree, landing on the ground and on the surface of the river nearby. At least the steadily-flowing water provided some sound. Kagu would have felt even more uneasy if this place had been completely silent.

She jumped as there was a splashing sound from somewhere behind her. Just Nanami. The mermaid had reached the tree at last.

Nanami climbed out onto the grass. "Okay, I'm here. Now what?"

"Now we go look for Pooch and Kuni in Hana Valley," Kagu shrugged. "The river goes into the cave."

Nanami glanced in the direction of the valley. "Okay then. But what are we supposed to do when we find them?"

"I don't know!" Kagu tutted. "We're just gonna make sure they're okay. Okay?"

"Okay." Nanami hopped back into the water once more. "Race you to the entrance?"

"Hey, this is serious!"

"Yeah, but we'll get there faster."

"Well… fine."

* * *

"Come on, Kagu, you can run faster than that!"

"Hey! I'm an actress, not an athlete!" Kagu protested as she reached the gate to Hana Valley, out of breath. "And besides, you're swimming along the current. You had an advantage. Anyways," she regained her composure. "We're here now."

The large wooden gate had been kept open ever since the defeat of Anura, the toad demon, which it had been built to keep inside. At least they wouldn't have to try and open the gate. Kagu had heard that it was hard for even a fully-grown man to do so…

"Hmm," Nanami muttered, disappearing under the water for a second. "I can't swim through the gate here, the gaps are too small. I'll have to go around. Fancy giving me a hand?"

"No way!" Kagu took a step back. "I want to stay dry, thanks."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Nanami tutted. "A bit of water never killed anyone." She climbed out onto the grass once more.

"Yeah, well, I have an appearance to maintain, you know," Kagu muttered, wandering through the gate and looking around at the valley.

It was even darker in here than it was outside; the sunlight hadn't reached this place yet. Still, she could clearly see the cherry blossom trees that were dotted around the path and the river glistening in the low light.

Not particularly wanting to end up like the mermaid, Kagu made her way over the bridge across the river. She wasn't entirely sure how to find Kuni in here but following the path seemed like the best thing to do for now.

"Hey, wait up!"

Kagu sighed and glanced back once more to see Nanami half-hopping, half-sliding around the gate before splashing back into the river. "I can't wait around all day, you know!"

"A few seconds would be nice," Nanami grumbled, swimming over to her. "Anyways, the river ends over there." She pointed to the pool of water nearby.

Kagu looked to where she was pointing, taking note of the waterfall raining over the top of the cliffs. "But it continues up there."

"I can't fly!" Nanami pointed out. "It'll take me ages to get up there, and you've already made it pretty obvious you won't give me a lift."

"Fine, I'll continue on my own then!" Kagu rolled her eyes.

"But what if you get attacked by demons?"

"I'm a miko, I'll be fine."

"Well, I hope you're not _too_ over-confident," Nanami sighed. "Well, at least if I hear an attack I can go and fetch help."

"I won't need any; I said I'll be fine!" Kagu protested. "Just wait here, I'll be back soon."

Not waiting for a reply, she raced off along the path. Luckily there weren't too many of them around here, so she shouldn't get lost.

At least she could vaguely see where she was going. Following the river, she passed a small clearing before reaching another waterfall that started from somewhere up the side of the walls. There was a ledge just above her which seemed to be where the path continued.

_Oh great. Looks like I have to climb then, _she thought, jumping and grabbing hold of the edge of the ledge, hauling herself up. There were few footholds but she still managed to scramble up to the path above, waiting for a moment to dust herself off before continuing.

A few metres in, the path opened up, and Kagu found herself in a cave with a large gap in the roof. At the other side of the cave was a platform that overlooked another waterfall, which was presumably where the river continued. A guardian sapling filled the majority of the cave, its roots surrounded by many flowers that looked beautiful even in the low light.

It took her a moment to realise that there was someone at the foot of the tree, asleep.

"Kuni!"

* * *

"Samickle, you really should get some rest."

"No. I don't have time to rest. I have to protect the village."

Tuskle let out a long sigh. The Oina warriors were important for the villagers' safety but they couldn't half be stubborn. "You won't be able to protect the village if you're tired. You've been up for at least twenty-four hours. There haven't been any signs of demons since the attack two days ago, I'm sure they're not going to attack just because you aren't watching over Wep'keer."

"But what if they _do_ attack?" Samickle snapped. "The Oina is short of fighters as it is. Not to mention Oki has been hiding away in his house since yesterday. He should be helping to watch over the village!"

"Samickle, you know that Oki's upset," Tuskle pointed out calmly. "And with good reason."

"_Everyone_ is upset about what happened to Kai," the warrior persisted. "Oki doesn't have any excuse to neglect his duties as a warrior."

"Kai was his best friend," Tuskle added. _Maybe even more than that._ "As far as I'm concerned, that is a valid excuse."

"Well, as far as _I'm_ concerned, Oki should stop running off whenever we need his help to protect the village," Samickle tutted. "He did the same thing last year."

"Yes, but that was different," Tuskle sighed. "Besides… he might not have recovered from the poison yet either."

"Lika is fine now. I don't see why he shouldn't be."

Tuskle just rolled her eyes, being thankful she had her mask on. Samickle was being annoyingly unsympathetic and arrogant, but that was no different than normal… "Anyway, if you don't get some rest soon you'll only end up being too exhausted to defend anything. If leaving the village unguarded bothers you so much then _I'll_ watch over it for a while."

"No. You're a shaman, not a warrior."

"Exactly. And as a shaman I know that you've been on duty for too long. It doesn't exactly take the skills of a warrior just to look out for danger, you know."

Samickle still didn't look convinced.

"I'll wake you at the first sign of trouble, okay?"

"Fine," Samickle grumbled, finally giving in. "Just make sure you do. Unlike some, I don't like ignoring my responsibilities for this village."

* * *

Kuni jolted awake the second he heard someone call his name. He was so surprised he ended up hitting his head against the roots of the tree he'd been sleeping under.

"Ow…" he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Kagu!? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you! What else!?" Kagu cried. "You can at least _pretend_ you're pleased to see me."

"B-but why were you looking for me? And why are you _here_?"

"Some idiot sent out demons to blackmail everyone into coming to Shinshu, or something," Kagu shrugged. "And I was looking for you because I wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"Well, I'm fine," Kuni told her, standing up and retrieving his wooden sword, which he'd left lying against the tree.

"Still, it's gonna be dangerous around here later," Kagu added. "You should go to Kamiki, it's safer there."

"No!" Kuni protested. "I can't go to Kamiki."

"Why?"

"I just… can't… it's a long story."

"But if any demons come in here you'll be dead meat," Kagu persisted. "Isn't Pooch with you?"

"Pooch…? You mean Mutt?" Kuni blinked. What was he supposed to say? He knew that Mutt had been captured by someone dangerous, but Mutt was a god. He'd be able to look after himself. Still, there was no need to make Kagu worry… "Um… I haven't seen him for a while. I don't know where he is." At least that wasn't exactly a lie.

"That stupid puppy!" Kagu tutted. "Just leaving you alone out here where it's dangerous. Pooch, you're going to have some serious answering to do when I find you…"

"Look, I said I'm okay!" Kuni persisted. He glanced away. "I can look after myself. You don't have to worry about me. If you think it's so dangerous out here then you should go back to the village."

"Kuni…"

The next thing he knew, Kagu had run over to give him a hug.

"Kagu!" he gasped.

"You idiot!" Kagu cried. "Think about yourself for once! If we leave you here by yourself then who knows what could happen! If I go back to the village without you and you get attacked it'll be my fault!"

"But…" Kuni stammered, but decided against protesting. He sighed. It looked like he was going to have to give in to stop Kagu crying on him… "Okay, okay. I'll… I'll go back to the village with you…" After all, he'd been trying to work up the nerve to go there for days now. No time like the present… right?

"Really?" Kagu sniffed, stepping back and wiping her eyes.

"Yeah," Kuni smiled.

"Okay." Then she glared at him. "Oh, and just for the record, I wasn't crying."

* * *

"Hey, you found Kuni!"

"Yup," Kagu shrugged.

"Hey Kuni," Nanami waved. "You look… slightly more toasted than when we last met?"

"That would be the fire," Kuni pointed out evenly.

"We'd better head back to Kamiki," Kagu added, looking up at the sky visible above the sides of the valley. It was gradually starting to turn blue and it was a lot lighter now than it had been earlier.

"Well, here goes the long journey for me," Nanami sighed. "You guys are lucky."

Kagu led the small group back out through the gate, this time stopping to wait for Nanami to make her way around it. Then they headed back along the path and out into Shinshu.

As soon as they were past the Nameless Man's house, Kagu halted.

"Ah!" Kuni gasped as he narrowly avoided walking into her. "What's wrong?"

There were people everywhere. Whatever was supposed to be happening today, it looked like it had already begun…

"Hmm," Nanami muttered. "I think we're a bit late…"

* * *

Issun had been woken up that morning by a loud roar, marking the start of a hectic day. A few minutes later, demons had poured into Kamiki, chasing everyone out of their homes or the places they were staying and herding them towards Shinshu. Luckily everyone had more or less expected the attack, and they obeyed silently, realising that the demons weren't sent there to hurt them but only to force them out into the fields.

Now the poncle stood on one of the boulders near the path out to Shinshu, watching as the last few people made their way past. The demons that had been sent to the village raced past everyone, their job done.

"Hey, prophet!" Issun called as Waka passed him. "Any bright ideas how we're gonna defeat that guy?"

"Non," Waka shrugged. Issun was surprised to actually hear the worry showing through in his voice for once. "We'll have to think of something quickly. Letting Amaterasu die is not an option."

"Well duh!" Issun tutted. "Like I'd think it was! Judging by the last time you fought Tero you'll be useless in this battle anyways."

The prophet didn't reply, only watching the others vanish around the corner.

"Bah. I'm going," Issun muttered, hopping from the boulder. "Just don't even think about getting yourself killed or anything like that, okay, fruitcake? For Ammy's sake, not mine."

"Trés bien," Waka sighed. "But I can't promise anything."

Such a pessimist. Issun just rolled his eyes and continued hopping along the path after the rest of the village.

Everyone was gathering out on the field when Issun got there. He tried to make his way to the front of the crowd, which was hard considering he kept narrowly avoiding getting stepped on by people. Finally be made it back out into the sunlight.

The second he did so, he saw exactly what they were up against.

Near the top of the hill was the cage. Amaterasu was sat inside, surveying the surroundings and every now and then glaring at her enemy. A couple of scars covered her sides, but even though she was beaten and powerless she refused to look weak. She was the sun goddess, determined not to be beaten by a psychotic human.

However, the determination wouldn't be enough on its own…

At the top of the rise was a line of demons, including Yami and Ninetails, silhouetted against the rising sun. Presumably they were the backup incase anyone tried to interfere. Either that or they were just here to watch the demise of the goddess…

"Well, what a good turnout. So glad that so many of you came to watch the show."

Of course he was there too; the person who Issun currently hated more than anyone else. And given how much he hated some people, that was saying a lot…

"Still, if you hadn't joined us then I would have had to kill you all, which would have wasted a lot of time. So it's good that you're all here."

A few murmurs spread through the crowd. Only a few of them had any idea what was going on.

"Tero," Issun muttered. He hopped forward. "If you think we're just going to sit back and watch you kill Ammy, you've got another thing coming!"

"What, and I suppose a bug is going to stop me?" Tero laughed. "If anyone tries to interfere, it's not only me they have to contend with."

"Hah! You think you can scare us just by getting a bunch of demons to do your dirty work for you?" Issun snapped. "There have been enough demon attacks lately that everyone knows how to fight against them! A bunch of monsters isn't going to stop us from saving Ammy!"

"Whether you can fight demons or not," Tero continued, unsheathing both swords and slicing one of them against the bars of the cage as he did so, causing Amaterasu to flinch at the loud clanging noise it made. "There is no way you can defeat me."

"We'll see about that, creep!"

There was a high pitched barking from somewhere in the distance. _Is that…?_

Then a white and red wolf puppy burst into view from over the rise, barging through a couple of the demons there and growling fiercely.

"Chibi!"

"Pooch!"

"Squiddy!"

"Mutt!"

It seemed like there were a few of Chibi's old friends in the crowd of people. Hah, now that Chibi was back, they could defeat Tero easily!

_Wait…_

There was something different about him. It wasn't Tero that Chibi was growling at.

It was the crowd.

"Don't go near Chibi!" Issun shouted, hoping that the others would hear his high-pitched voice.

"What? Why!?" Kagu demanded.

Issun didn't know how to explain. He wasn't even sure _he_ understood…

But although Chibi looked the same as always, there was something different about his eyes. The way he looked at everyone. It was almost like the bloodlust glare of a demon…

"What did you do to Squiddy!?" Nanami cried.

_No…! He's… he's been possessed…!_

"So then," Tero smirked. "Are you still sure you want to fight?"


	32. Hope

**Weeelllll this chapter was going to be longer but once again I decided to split it in half xD**

**And is it just me or is Issun the only one who swears in this story. Bad Issun. Go to your room.**

**Well actually no your room has drawings of naked women in it so... go sit on the naughty pebble.**

**Why of course the first half of this chapter isn't like inspired by Soul Eater or anything... totally...**

**The one thing I hate about splitting chapters = I HAVE TO THINK OF MORE TITLES.**

* * *

_What… what's going on…?_

Chibi glanced around in confusion. He had no idea where he was. It was almost as if he was in some kind of room, with black floor and walls. There was a strange light floating in the centre, which seemed to be attached to the sides of the room with strings of light.

Well this was strange…

_Where am I? What's going on?_

"You want to know what's going on? Hmm, that might be a hard one for me to explain."

Chibi jumped as he heard the voice. Was there someone else here? And… how could they know what he was thinking?

_Where are you?_ he barked. _And as a matter of fact, _who_ are you? _There was something strangely familiar about the voice, but he couldn't place it…

"Who am I? That might take a bit of explaining too. Let's see, where to begin…"

Letting out a long sigh, Chibi glanced around once more. Wherever and whoever this voice was coming from, it seemed he wasn't going to find much out from them. And what was that light? He tried to power slash it but nothing happened. He couldn't even find the power.

He looked down at himself, realising that his crimson markings and divine instrument weren't there.

_What's happening!?_

"Oh yeah, your powers… yeah, I kinda borrowed them. Not as if they'd be much use in there anyways."

Chibi was somewhat taken aback. He didn't understand how someone could just _take_ his powers. He gave a loud growl.

_Who are you? And why did you steal my powers from me!?_

"Wow, you really didn't get it yet? I'm _you_. Or to be exact, a compilation of the evil parts of your soul. Hate, anger, despair… all that stuff."

Chibi just continued growling. He still didn't understand what this voice was going on about.

"That light there. That's your soul. I'd avoid breaking any of those strings because you don't want to detach it. You kinda need a soul."

_How did I get here?_

"Wow, you sure ask a lot of questions. That guy with the funny coat used that Akukaen Crystal to put demonic power inside you, and now here I am. And there you are. I've taken over your body, okay?"

_Okay!? Of course it's not okay! Give me my body back! _Chibi snarled. _And why should I believe you? You're just my conscience!_

"What? I'm not your conscience. I told you already, I'm the evil part of your soul. If you don't believe me then look into it."

_Huh?_

"Look into your soul, idiot!"

He cast a glance at the light in the centre of the room. The light? That was really his soul? Or was this a trap? Not that he could be any more trapped than he was already…

The voice didn't mock him this time. Good. It was strange having something that sounded like his own conscience mocking him with no ability to control it. Cautiously, Chibi padded over to the floating light.

_I don't see anything, _he yapped, glancing around the dark room, expecting to see the ghostly light temporarily frozen into his gaze, but it wasn't there. Maybe looking at a soul didn't cause that.

"You're supposed to look _into_ it," the voice sighed. "Just taking a quick glance and turning away won't let you see anything. You're not particularly bright, are you?"

Giving a despondent huff, Chibi turned back to the light once more, staring into it. Still nothing…

Wait… there seemed to be a blurry image in the light now. The longer he looked, the more it came into focus. It looked like…

Shinshu Field?

"_Now_ you're finally getting it! Souls are pretty neat, huh. You can see what's happening now."

He could see a lot of people here. Many of them he recognised from his adventures in Nippon a few months ago… but if they were all here now, that meant…

_This is the day… it's the day Tero plans to kill my mother…!_

"Does he now? Good for him."

_You're working for Tero, aren't you! Give me my body back right now!_

"Working for him? Hah, like I'd bother working for anyone. Too much… well, work."

_Wait… so you're not on Tero's side? Then kill him!_

"And why would I want to do that?" the voice laughed. "I might not be working for him but he's certainly creating a lot of chaos around here. I think I'll just enjoy the show. Maybe liven it up a bit. Ever since I took over this body of yours I've been itching to kill some people."

Chibi gasped. _No!_

Instinctively he found himself glancing towards his friends who he could see in the crowd. Kuni, Nanami, Kagu…

"Ohh, so those guys are your friends, huh?" It laughed again, sounding even more manic than before. "Then maybe I should kill them first! And you know what? Since this is still your body, you get to have a front-row view. Now you get to watch them all die!"

* * *

"You crazy bastard!" Issun snapped, jumping up and down in anger. "What the heck did you do to Chibi!?"

"I used the power of the Akukaen Crystal to enhance the dark side of his soul," Tero told him plainly, as if it were obvious. "It's not my fault if that bratty pup can't even stop himself from being possessed."

"So you admit you have the crystal then," Issun muttered. "That's the only reason you have all these crazy powers!"

"What is there to be ashamed of?" Tero smirked. He held up the crystal, which Issun hadn't noticed before; it was attached to a piece of string around his neck, and before it had been hidden beneath his coat. "Don't you know how many people have actually managed to create one?"

"In that case, I'm assuming the last person to create one was a freak as well," Issun tutted.

He could still hear the uneasy murmuring that floated around the crowd. Chibi still watched them intently, the look in his eyes terrifying. That wasn't Chibi. It couldn't be…

"You fool!" Mr Orange shouted. "A person like you cannot kill a goddess!"

"Gramps, shush!" Issun hissed, not wanting the elder to have Tero's wrath inflicted upon him. The old man wouldn't stand a chance.

Yet Tero seemed strangely calm. "It's quite simple, actually. Without her powers, Amaterasu is as weak as any ordinary wolf. Quite pathetic, I must say."

The wolf gave a growl from within the cage. Tero didn't react beyond casting a quick glance in her direction.

"Snowy isn't pathetic," Kushi added. "She's beaten some of the toughest demons there are."

"Kushi!" Issun cried.

"Ahahaha! That's right; Fido wouldn't let a random guy kill her! She's much stronger than that!" Susano cheered.

"Geez, do all you guys have a death wish or something?" Issun sighed.

"Amaterasu will not be killed!"

"No one can kill a goddess!"

"You're stronger than him, Amaterasu!"

"We believe in you!"

Everyone in the crowd was joining in now. Cheering for Ammy even though she was trapped inside a cage. They believed she could beat this guy. That he wouldn't be able to kill her.

And quite frankly, Issun wanted to believe that too.

No one else had seen the extent of Tero's power. They'd witnessed the demon attacks but whether they'd put two and two together or not was beyond him. But maybe… if everyone believed in Ammy, her powers might return to her, and she'd be safe. After all, it worked last year.

Issun just shrugged. _If you can't beat 'em, join 'em._

"Yeah!" he shouted, feeling some hope at long last. "Ya hear that, Tero? You won't be able to kill Ammy! We won't let you!"

"Enough!"

Oops.

"Your incompetent whining isn't going to save the goddess," Tero growled, obviously slightly irritated by now, but he seemed to brush it aside. "I warned you all already; if you try and interfere, it's not only me you have to fight against!"

He raised one arm into the air, the blade of the sword he was holding glinting in the light of the rising sun.

_Huh…?_

Then Issun noticed one of the silhouettes at the top of the hill move. Yami lifted his mechanical hand before pointing down at the crowd below.

Then demons started to swarm down the side of the hill.

_No!_

"Canine warriors! Go _now_!"

Issun glanced around in surprise. The crowd had started to scatter, people trying to get away from the front where they'd just be sitting ducks for the demons. Eight dogs burst out from amongst the chaos; the Kusa five, as well as Ume, Hayabusa and Take. As they passed Issun he noticed that they were each carrying something in their mouths.

They looked like twigs with pieces of paper attached…

_What the heck is that supposed to do!?_

"Nobody panic!" Princess Fuse shouted above the madness.

"What?" Tero muttered as the dogs raced past him. It was good to see him confused for once.

It would have been even funnier if Issun understood what was going on himself… surely the canine warriors weren't intending to fight all of those demons by themselves?

"Now!" Fuse ordered.

At her command, the eight dogs planted the sticks in the ground and jumped back. As soon as the last one was in place, the sticks created a line across the field. The pieces of paper lit up, something that looked like electricity sparking from them.

One of the imps was the first to reach the line of twigs. As soon as it tried to pass them it let out a shriek, freezing for a moment as if it was paralysed, before falling to the ground and bursting into a flower. The rest of the demons skidded to a halt, not wanting to meet the same end.

"Wow…" Issun mumbled. He still didn't really understand what was happening.

"Miko Cho!" Kagu cheered. She'd made her way to the front of the crowd as soon as the demons started to attack.

"What? Who?" Issun asked, still baffled.

"She's the leader of all the mikos in the city," Kagu explained. "She must have used her power to create a barrier so that the demons couldn't pass."

"Ohh," Issun nodded in understanding. "That's a pretty neat trick!"

"Quite," Tero countered. Despite the fact that his demons had been removed from the battle, he didn't seem fazed. "But it won't help. I don't need demons to kill Amaterasu!"


	33. The Setting Sun

**Guess we now come to the conclusion that in this story, nobody is safe... *evil laugh***

**What I don't get is, this is one of the longest chapters by number of pages, and yet by wordcount it's still 1,000 words less than the longest chapter. O_o**

**I think I have entered a phase called ENTER ABUSE.**

**And I only have one word to sum up this chapter:**

**DUUUUUDE.**

* * *

"The demons have been contained for now," Miko Cho said quietly. "Fuse, could you take the canine warriors and get anyone who can't fight back to the village?"

"Sure," Princess Fuse nodded.

_Good, _Issun thought as a few of the people started to crowd around, ready to head back to safety. Hopefully nothing would attack them on their way back… besides, all the demons were here right now. Stuck behind a barrier.

"I see people are leaving already," Tero said casually. "Did you really not wish to stay and enjoy the show? Although, to be honest, it has been rather dull so far. It's about time we got to the main event, don't you think?"

"What are—" Issun started, breaking off as he realised what that meant.

_Ammy!_

"Any objections?" Tero laughed, clearly looking at Issun this time, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Let Ammy go, you freak!" Issun shouted, knowing that as well. "If you kill her, I swear you're gonna regret it!" He drew his sword.

"Oh really?" Tero smirked. "Giving up already like a good little bug, I see."

"Giving up? Not on your life!" Or Ammy's, for that matter. Issun hopped forward. He knew he was probably being crazy but he didn't care. "If you wanna kill her, you gotta kill me first!"

"As much as I'd love to, I don't want to waste time crushing insects," Tero shrugged. "Trying to bide time isn't going to help. Amaterasu is going to die, and there's nothing you or anyone can—"

He broke off suddenly, glancing around. There was a flash of green light and Tero had to hold up a sword to block the attack. His attacker, clearly not wanting to wait for a counterattack, jumped backwards, landing a few metres away.

_Well it's about time! Geez!_

"You again," Tero muttered. "Do you _want_ to be killed or something?"

Waka just glared at him. Issun didn't think he'd ever seen the prophet look so serious.

He was just as worried about Ammy as Issun was…

"Non, I am here to help Amaterasu." Waka narrowed his eyes. "Vous avez été averti, I will not allow you to harm ma chérie!"

* * *

_Mutt…_

Kuni had watched as Miko Cho and the canine warriors put up the barrier to stop the demons.

Yet it hadn't affected Mutt.

"Maybe we should go back to the village," Kokari suggested. "It's safer there."

"No!" Kuni protested.

"We have to help Pooch," Kagu added.

"Yeah. There must be some way to save Squiddy," Nanami spoke up from where she watched by the river.

"Well, if you're sure…" Kokari glanced back at the group heading for the village, then at them again. "You guys be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kagu shrugged. "It's not like we're not used to danger."

Nanami watched Kokari leave. "So how exactly to we help Squiddy?"

"I don't know," Kuni sighed. "But we have to save him. There must be _something_ we can do!"

There was a loud barking as Mutt raced down the slope towards them. He still looked like Mutt… but no, there was a different look in his eyes. Vicious. That couldn't really be Mutt.

And it _wasn't_ Mutt. He was possessed. The real Mutt was in there somewhere…

Kuni stepped back as the puppy skidded to a halt in front of them, snarling fiercely.

"Mutt!" Kuni cried.

The wolf turned on him, teeth bared. As Mutt jumped towards him, Kuni held up his sword to defend himself and claws scraped against wood. He jumped back.

"Mutt…"

"Squiddy, snap out of it!" Nanami shouted.

"Pooch!"

Kagu ran over to Mutt, holding a prayer slip in one hand. She wrapped her arms around the puppy and hugged him. The piece of paper started to spark white lightning.

Mutt froze, looking somewhat shocked.

"Pooch… just come back to us, okay?" Kagu murmured, hugging him tighter.

_I think its working!_ Kuni felt relieved. Kagu would be able to use her miko powers to purify Mutt and drive out whatever it was that has possessed him.

Then the puppy's expression changed again, teeth bearing in a smirk.

Kuni gasped.

"Kagu, look out!"

"Huh? Ah!"

Mutt flicked his tail.

Blood splashed onto the grass.

Then the miko collapsed.

"Kagu!" Nanami cried.

Kuni froze in shock. It hadn't worked. Mutt was still evil.

* * *

_Kagu! No!_

Chibi howled as his friend got slashed. He couldn't do anything stuck here.

_Stop it! Give me my body back right now!_

"Hah, dream on. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Which I don't, might I add," the voice laughed. "What's the matter? Can't handle the fact that you're killing your friends?"

You're_ the one hurting them! _Chibi yapped.

"I told you already. I _am_ you."

Chibi didn't reply. There had to be _something_ he could do. There had to be a way out of here…

"And yeah, there's no way out. I wouldn't bother even trying. You're going to be stuck there for eternity, you'd better get used to it."

* * *

"Mutt… how… why…" Kuni stammered. He _knew_ why.

How were they going to save Mutt now?

The puppy sped towards him once more. This time as Kuni held out the sword he got hit before Mutt had even reached him. Power slash.

Wait; wasn't Mutt's power slash usually stronger than that?

Whatever it was that had possessed the god, it didn't know how to use his powers to their full extent.

Nanami climbed out from the river and hopped over to where Kagu had collapsed.

"She's still alive!" the mermaid called.

"I don't think Mutt – or whoever he is right now – can use his powers properly," Kuni told her.

The wolf raced at him again, power slashing at the sword and then trying to swipe his claws at the boy. Luckily Kuni managed to block the attack. He knew what the god was trying to do.

He was trying to break through the sword. Then Kuni would be defenceless.

"HIYAAAAARGH!"

_What the—_

A massive wooden sword was slammed into the ground in front of him, blocking the wolf puppy's next attack. Mutt jumped back, snarling.

"Aha ha ha! No demon is going to harm the son of the great Susano!"

Kuni froze once more. This was the reason he'd avoided Kamiki, to stay away from Susano. And now here he was.

And did he just call him his son…?

Susano pulled the wooden sword from the ground, swinging it around his head before pointing it at the wolf. "Hey, he looks kind of familiar…"

"Dad—I mean, Susano—I mean… just… don't hurt Mutt!" Kuni cried.

"You expect me to just let this dog hurt _you_?" Susano exclaimed. "What kind of father would I be if I let that happen?"

"But… you're…" Kuni swallowed. "You're not my real dad, you know."

"I know. But that doesn't mean I can't be one, right?"

Kuni blinked in surprised. "But… but you told me I was no longer your son just before I left."

"I know that, too," Susano admitted, looking slightly embarrassed. "And that was a mistake. I was angry; I didn't really mean it. You're still like a son to me."

"I…" For a moment, Kuni didn't know how to reply. Then he smiled. "Yeah, Dad. But… leave Mutt to me, okay? I'll be fine on my own."

"But you—"

"Dad…"

Susano sighed. "Fine. I won't interfere if that's what you want, son."

* * *

Honestly, Chibi would rather have fought against Susano than Kuni. At least Susano would have been more able to defend himself… well, if the fact that he helped slay Orochi last year was anything to go by.

But now he was stuck watching Kuni get attacked. By _him_. And there was nothing he could do.

"Heh heh. You got that right. You enjoy the show now."

_Shut up! _Chibi growled. _If you hurt Kuni then… then I'll… I'll…!_

"You'll what? You can't do anything. You're trapped inside your soul, remember?"

That was right. He couldn't do anything…

Through the light of his soul he saw Kuni trying to defend himself as more and more slashes appeared on his flimsy wooden sword. It wouldn't hold up for much longer.

One of the power slashes got past his defence and Kuni gasped as a gash appeared on his shoulder.

_Kuni!_

He had to do something. There had to be a way to stop this. There _had_ to. Kagu had already been injured; he couldn't let that happen to anyone else…

Glancing around the room urgently, Chibi hunted for any means of escape. He hurried over to one of the walls and tried jumping up at it, scrabbling at the walls.

The voice didn't say anything this time, only laughed at his feverish attempt to escape.

There really was no way out of here.

Unless…

He looked back over at the light, paying special attention to the strings that kept it attached to the sides of the room. The words the voice said earlier echoed faintly in his mind.

_I'd avoid breaking any of those strings because you don't want to detach it. You kinda need a soul._

That was it. That was the way out.

He padded over to one of the thinnest strings of light. He slashed at it with one paw, his claws cutting through it and the string vanishing as the glow faded.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing!?"

Hah. The voice finally sounded worried. _Getting rid of these strings. It's the only way to stop you._

"Don't be an idiot! If you cut through those strings you'll detach your soul!"

_Yeah. So?_ Chibi jumped at another string, cutting it in half.

"You need a soul, duh!"

He ignored the voice, slicing through another string.

"Stop that, you idiot! You'll die!"

Ah, so that was why the voice sounded so scared. If Chibi died then the evil possessing him would die too.

That sounded painfully familiar…

_Well, it's the only way I'm going to stop you from killing my friends._

"You crazy mutt! You're going to kill yourself just for a bunch of stupid kids!?"

_They're not just stupid kids. They're my partners._

_Without them, I'd probably be dead by now anyway._

He sliced through another glowing string. There was only one left now; the thickest string of light, attaching the floating light to the ground. Chibi padded calmly over, fastening his jaws around it.

"Hey! Don't do it, stupid! You'll regret it!"

_No. I'd regret leaving you here to harm anyone else!_

He bit through the string, the glow vanishing.

Then the floating light in the centre of the room faded away.

* * *

Chibi was left in darkness. At least that annoying voice had shut up now. That meant he had defeated it.

_I won. My friends are safe now._

So then why was he still scared?

He was trapped in the darkness. He couldn't even tell if he was still in the room from before or just in an endless void.

What if he was stuck here forever?

Eventually in the corner of his eye he noticed a light flicker. Eager to be anywhere other than in this darkness, Chibi raced towards it.

As he got closer to the light, the darkness changed, as did the ground under him. _Grass…?_

Gradually his surroundings appeared. He seemed to be in some kind of field. Flowers were dotted around the grass and cherry blossom petals floated past, glinting in the light of the sun. This wasn't as bad as the darkness, at least. It was just so silent here…

"Wow, dude. That was one crazy stunt you pulled back there."

Chibi gasped, his eyes becoming wide. _That voice…_

He glanced around hurriedly, hoping more than anything that this wasn't another dream. At first he couldn't see anything.

Then he noticed it. Amongst the petals.

A red scarf fluttering in the breeze.

For a moment Chibi almost forgot how to breathe. When he finally got over his initial shock, he took off at a run, speeding towards the figure in the distance.

_Kurow!_

He smiled. "Long time no see, eh boy?"

Chibi kept running, not even slowing down when he jumped, flying right into Kurow.

"Whoa, dude!" he laughed as he was pushed over, landing amongst the flowers with Chibi licking his face, tail wagging furiously. Tears brimmed in the puppy's eyes. "Come on, boy, don't cry. You know I don't like water."

His tail still wagging, Chibi hopped away to let the boy get up.

"How's that for a reunion, huh?" Kurow joked, sitting up and removing petals from his hair. "I guess you met the same fate I did, sacrificing yourself to save your friends." He glanced away at the grass. "It's really quiet up here. I've seen mister Sugawara a few times, but other than that…"

Chibi let out a faint whimper, tipping his head to one side. Kurow sounded so sad. It must have been lonely here all by himself…

Giving a half-bark, Chibi padded over and nudged his cheek with his muzzle.

Kurow smiled, hugging the young wolf. "Thanks, dude. I'm not alone anymore."


	34. Battle for the Goddess

**And at long last we have reached THE CLIMAX.**

**Mmhmmmm.**

**And I actually cannot think of anything to say that isn't in some way a spoiler...**

**So all I shall say is, ouch.**

* * *

"Mutt!"

Issun was distracted from the fight by Kuni's shout. He'd almost forgotten about Chibi in all the worry about Ammy. He hopped over to near where the nameless man's house was.

"Hey! What's going on over here?" he called. "Is everyone okay?"

"Something's up with Squiddy!" Nanami cried. "I know he's possessed, but…"

Following her glance, Issun watched the wolf puppy. Chibi had frozen, the strange vicious glare in his eyes gone to be replaced with a look of fear.

"Oi, Chibi!" Issun shouted. No response.

"He suddenly stopped attacking me," Kuni murmured. "I think… I think Mutt must be fighting against the thing that possessed him…"

"Um… Susano?" Nanami asked. "Could you help get Kagu back to the village? She got injured in the fight and she hasn't woken up yet…"

"Hm?" Susano blinked. "Oh… sure."

Issun looked over at where the miko was collapsed on the grass. Kagu was still unconscious, and blood was pouring onto the earth from a wound that split across her shoulder and chest. She didn't even wake up when Susano lifted her. With the demons trapped behind a barrier, there was only one thing that could have given her a wound like that…

"Mutt? Mutt!"

_Exactly… wait, what?_

Issun glanced back at Chibi once more, just in time to see the wolf puppy's eyes roll to the back of his head and him slump over onto the ground.

"Chibi!" Issun cried, hopping over to him.

"This… this is another trick… right…?" Kuni asked quietly. "Mutt, did… did you defeat that monster possessing you…?"

Chibi didn't react at all.

"Hey, Chibi! Get up!" Issun shouted, tugging at the wolf's ear in a failed attempt to lift him up. He at least expected the puppy to flick his ear as a reflex, but no. Nothing. "Chibi!"

"Come on, Squiddy, don't give up!" Nanami cried.

Issun jumped around, resting one hand on the wolf's side. He couldn't feel a pulse.

_No…_

He tried listening for a heartbeat, but was only met with silence.

"He's… he's dead…"

"No! Mutt!" Kuni wailed. "How can he be dead!? Mutt is a god!"

"Just because he's a god doesn't mean he can't die!" Issun snapped. "That's exactly the reason why that Tero guy is trying to kill Ammy!"

He couldn't let her die as well.

Kuni hurried over to hug Chibi, the wolf puppy flopping limply in his arms.

Nanami hopped over to join them. Tears rolled down her face, disguised slightly by the fact that she had been in the water recently. "Squiddy…"

Unable to stand the scene any longer, Issun turned and hopped away. They had to save Ammy. They _had_ to.

That was why it was frustrating that there wasn't much Issun could do…

"Issun?"

"Wah!" he gasped as he nearly jumped straight into someone. Snapping back to reality, he glanced up. "Kaguya!?"

"It's been a while, huh?" the blonde girl smiled half-heartedly. "Anyway… I think I might be able to help."

Issun tipped his head to one side. He thought Kaguya had left, although that had been over a year ago now so she must have come back. She looked almost the same as before with the funny bamboo leaves in her hair, but without that bamboo suit she'd had on when they last met, Issun realised quite how long her hair actually was. And that reminded him of a certain fruitcake he knew… still, at least Kaguya wasn't as half-baked. "It's nice to see you too, sweetie, but I think you should go back to Kamiki. It's a bit dangerous out here."

"No, no, I can help!" Kaguya persisted. "I can open the cage."

_Okay, I take that back about her not being half-baked. _"It's not just a normal cage, y'know. The stuff it's made of is so strong that even brush techniques wouldn't work on it!"

"I know. But I can open it, I promise. And besides, I still owe you and Amaterasu for saving me last year. If it wasn't for you two, _I'd_ still be stuck in a cage."

Issun just sighed. "You guys are all crazy. Tero will kill you if you try and ruin his plans."

"Oh… but… I can free Amaterasu. I can use my powers. It might take a few moments though… and I can't use them from here…"

"You're serious?" Issun blinked. He'd thought she was just trying to be helpful. But then again, Kaguya did seem to be different from other people… and if she really _did_ have powers, well…

Then they'd be able to free Ammy.

"… Okay," he said hesitantly. "If you're sure you can free Ammy, I'll make sure no one gets in the way."

* * *

Waka was highly aware of Amaterasu barking frantically at him from inside the cage nearby. She knew what had happened the last time he'd fought against Tero and she didn't want the same thing to happen again.

He wasn't too keen on being left for dead again either. Hopefully this time he'd be able to win.

Tero's attacks were fast but not powerful. Luckily Waka was able to block every strike with Pillow Talk and his own katana, and so far he hadn't been hit once. The attempt was strangely weak. It was almost as if Tero wasn't even intending to hurt him…

But he was driving him back.

_Amaterasu!_

Tero feigned a strike, vanishing into thin air. Automatically Waka glanced around to make sure the man hadn't re-appeared behind him, but that was the least of his worries.

"Let's get this over with. People are getting bored." Tero tutted. He was standing by the cage once more, holding one blade over it in preparation to drive it through the bars and stab the wolf.

_Ma chérie, no!_

He wasn't giving up yet.

As quickly as he could, Waka raced over and swung Pillow Talk, finally trying to aim a hit at Tero. He should have known that the man would expect as much as a last-ditch effort.

Tero held out one arm, and although he could have easily simply blocked the strike with a katana, a barrier appeared in front of him. As soon as Waka's beam sword hit the barrier, his own energy caused a rebound and he was thrown back, dropping both swords and getting slammed against the ground, all the breath drawn out of him.

Luckily he glanced up and managed to move just in time, a sword spearing the sleeve of his kimono and pinning his arm to the ground. That had been dangerously close to going right through his arm…

"I'll have to deal with you later," Tero growled.

"Dammit, prophet, get up already!"

"Issun…?" Waka muttered, surprised to see the poncle right next to him. When did he get there?

"You've come to join us, I see, bug," Tero laughed. "What do you expect to do, bite me?"

"Hey Waka, I need you to protect Kaguya, okay?"

"Quoi!?"

"Just do it, fruitcake!"

Glancing around quickly, Waka noticed that Kaguya was making her way up the slope to them as well. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed that Issun had a plan…

Though considering it was Issun, he doubted it would be a very good one.

The poncle lowered his voice so Tero wouldn't hear. "She says she can open the cage with her powers or somethin'."

So that was the plan. Huh. He knew that the moon princess had some powers but he'd never actually known the extent of what they could do, especially since he hadn't seen her since she was a child…

It was the thinnest thread of hope. _Très bien. If she can save Amaterasu, I guess I might as well go along with Issun's crazy plan._

With some difficulty since he still had one arm pinned to the ground, Waka grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it from the earth, freeing himself. He drove the weapon back into the ground as he stood up so that hopefully Tero wouldn't be able to get it back without a considerable amount of effort.

"Trying to delay the death of the goddess won't do you any favours," Tero tutted. "If you insist on fighting then— hey!"

He'd finally noticed Kaguya. The Moon Tribe girl was standing not far from the cage, gazing at the lock as if she was concentrating on it. Was that supposed to open it?

Nothing was happening yet. Perhaps it would take a while. That was probably why Issun had told him to protect her, so that Tero wouldn't attack her while she was trying to free the goddess.

The second Tero moved to try and hit her with his remaining sword, Waka quickly retrieved Pillow Talk and jumped in the way of the strike, metal clashing against green light. Almost looking surprised, Tero jumped back.

"You idiots just never give up, do you," he snapped.

Waka just smirked, satisfied that the man had finally shown some kind of emotion besides arrogance. "It would be downright shameful to give in to a man like you."

"Very well then. If it's a fight you're looking for, fight me. Judging by your previous attempt, this shouldn't take too long. I can still kill the goddess and that girl as well once we're done."

"Je ne crois pas," Waka narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right here. Still, if he just stood around here then Tero would probably attack him first, so he might as well take the advantage.

He sped forwards, lashing out with his sword and hoping that Tero wouldn't create a barrier this time. Instead, Tero simply dodged out of the way, landing a counterattack than only scraped the side of his face.

Waka jumped back automatically, wondering why Tero hadn't bothered trying to give him a more devastating attack. A gash wouldn't do much…

Too late, he realised that perhaps getting rid of one of the swords hadn't been the best idea.

Tero hit him with his free hand while he was still trying to retreat, and almost instantly Waka felt pain sear through his chest. The shock caused his legs to buckle beneath him and he fell back onto the grass once more, one hand pressed to the wound and trying to stop the pain from showing on his face.

Why did he have to go and forget about Tero's ability to burn things…?

Amaterasu was barking frantically once more.

"Sooner I kill that goddess, the sooner she'll shut up," Tero muttered. "Looks like I'll have to be merciful for once and kill you quickly."

He lifted his remaining sword, ready to strike. Waka glanced around hurriedly for his own sword but he must have dropped it when Tero burnt him. He could barely even move yet, the pain was too fresh. Already the front of his kimono was stained red.

_Désolé, ma chérie…_

He closed his eyes, expecting to feel the pain of a blade hitting him again. The one that would end it all.

It never came.

Only the sound of clashing metal.

Waka dared to open his eyes again to see what happened.

_Quoi… Abe!?_

"We won't let you kill the captain!" Abe shouted, holding off the attack with his katana even though his arms were trembling, clearly showing his fear.

"You're all a bunch of idiots!" Tero rolled his eyes. As he did so he seemed to notice something behind him and vanished, avoiding getting hit by Kamo.

"Nearly got him," Kamo sighed, glancing around.

"Captain, a-are you okay?" Abe asked nervously, obviously slightly unnerved by the sight of blood.

"Abe, you fool."

"Huh!?"

Waka just about managed to force a smile onto his face to mask the pain as he tried to get up. "I know I used to be your captain, but don't do anything stupid like jumping into dangerous situations for my sake, okay?"

"Heh. He'll never listen," Kamo smiled, hitting Abe in the shoulder and holding out his other hand to Waka to help him up.

He took the offer somewhat gratefully, still having to press one hand to the wound every time he moved. Yet Waka knew that no matter how much pain he was in he couldn't give up the fight yet. They still had to save Amaterasu…

"Where's Tero?" he asked, scanning the ground for Pillow Talk.

"You're not seriously going to try and fight in that condition?" Kamo exclaimed.

"I have to protect Amaterasu."

"You don't have to worry too much," Abe shrugged. "That guy's a bit pre-occupied at the moment…"

* * *

Issun experimentally reached through the bars of the cage with one arm, giving a shrug as he realised that the strange metal didn't have any effect on him since he wasn't a god. It would probably stop him from using any of the brush techniques he'd learnt last year but they wouldn't be of any help here anyways.

"Hey, furball!" he grinned, jumping up onto her nose. "Long time no see!"

Ammy barked happily, her tail wagging. She definitely looked a lot different than usual without her crimson markings or divine weapon, and the scars plastered over her sides. Yet as he looked at her expression he knew she was still the same happy-go-lucky Ammy.

The look in her eyes changed in an instant as she quickly glanced to the side.

"Whoa!" Issun cried, losing his balance and falling to the ground, which was considerably harder than the grass outside the cage. _Well, at least nothing's changed…_

The wolf had her paws up against the side of the cage, barking furiously. Issun looked over to see what she was panicking about.

He was just in time to see Waka fall to the ground, a fresh burn wound on his chest and blood beginning to stain his shirt.

"Dammit, prophet, you're good at getting beaten," Issun tutted. He glanced over at the slope. "Don't worry, Ammy, he won't be in trouble for long."

They watched as Abe and Kamo appeared, attempting to fight Tero. After Kamo narrowly missed hitting him, Tero vanished.

Instantly Issun was alert, glancing around and trying to work out where Tero would appear next.

He reappeared right next to the cage once more, this time ready to aim a strike at Kaguya, who was trying her best to ignore everything that was going on around her.

"Ah, heck!" Issun gasped. What was he supposed to do!?

Tero was about to make an attack when he suddenly dodged quickly to one side, an arrow shooting past his head.

_Karude!_

As another arrow headed towards him, Tero held out one hand, creating a barrier that stopped the tiny spear and sent it flying into the ground instead. Before he even had a chance to try and attack Kaguya again he had to jump out of the way of a sword, this time an attack from Dandy.

"Yeah! Go get 'im, guys!" Issun cheered, unsheathing his own sword before deciding against joining in the fight. There were an awful lot of people here now and he might get stepped on.

Tero ducked as Benkei swung a large axe-like weapon at him, finally retreating slightly to retrieve his other sword. Obviously Waka hadn't pushed it far enough into the ground that it was impossible to get back.

But that was a good sign. It meant Tero had decided that he needed defence more than he needed his powers for attacking people.

"This is for what you did to Mutt!" Kuni shouted, racing up the hill to try and hit Tero with his wooden sword.

"Kuni, stay outta this!" Issun cried. "This ain't a place for kids!"

Tero easily jumped out of the way, the wooden blade slamming into the grass. "For once the bug is actually right. Do you really want to d—ah!"

There was a flash of green light and blood sprayed the grass once more. Yet again, Tero vanished.

"Did I get him?" Waka asked casually. There was still blood dripping from his own wound but he was doing an awfully good job of making it look like it wasn't bothering him.

"Well it's about time, fruitcake!" Issun rolled his eyes, hopping back out between the bars of the cage. He didn't want to be the only one not joining in the fight, even if he was only small.

Suddenly there was what sounded like a small explosion from behind him, and the lock on the cage broke, landing on the hard earth with a thud. Issun had to jump out of the way as the cage door was flung open and Ammy burst out, swirls of light surrounding her as her powers returned and letting out the fiercest howl of a battle cry he'd ever heard.

_We did it!_

"Hah! Take that, Tero!" Issun shouted spitefully, glancing over at him.

Tero was standing a little way down the slope, holding one hand to his side where Waka had hit him. Shame he was wearing a black coat and it was hard to see how serious the wound had actually been.

But the look on his face was priceless enough. He looked so frustrated and disbelieving at the same time. It was hilarious.

Narrowing his eyes, Tero disappeared once more. Amaterasu froze, as if she was waiting for him to reappear in front of her, but he never did.

Instead, Issun only heard the voice from somewhere behind him, past the demon barrier.

"This isn't over."

But when he looked around, Tero had vanished.


	35. Pursuit

**It's safe to say Waka probably suffers the most in this story, but I'd say Oki is probably a close second...**

**Well now. I said there'd be no more filler but chapter this is slightly filler-ish so... I lied xD**

**My my, look where we're heading next.**

* * *

Issun noticed Yami and Ninetails exchange a glance a few moments after Tero vanished. Yami gave what was presumably supposed to be a shrug and flicked his mechanical hand, sending a message to the other demons. Immediately they all turned and fled over the top of the hill and out of sight.

"Yes!" Issun whooped, hopping back up onto Ammy's head once more. "Ha ha! We did it! We beat Tero! We saved Ammy!"

"I doubt your input had much effect, my little bouncing friend," Waka teased.

"At least I'm still in one piece!" Issun protested. "And anyways, without my help, you— whoa!" He gasped as Ammy moved and he fell off her head once more.

The goddess hurried over to Waka, who smiled and reached down to pat her head. "I'm glad you're safe, Amaterasu."

She nudged his chest with her nose, letting out a quiet whimper.

The prophet winced but managed to keep smiling. "Don't worry about me, ma chérie, I'm fine."

"Bah," Issun muttered. "Half-baked prophet."

Amaterasu glanced around, finally noticing Kaguya and wandering over to her, giving a happy bark.

"Huh…?" the woman blinked.

"Ammy's just thanking ya for saving her!" Issun laughed, hopping over and this time deciding against jumping onto the wolf's head in case she went racing off again.

"Oh… well, you're very welcome, Amaterasu," Kaguya smiled. She added modestly, "it's not as if I was the only one involved though."

The goddess glanced around at everyone on the field, her tail wagging.

Then she stopped.

"What's the matter, furball?" Issun asked.

The wolf let out a faint whimper, her ears slowly moving back against her head. Then she took off down the side of the hill.

"Ammy…" Issun murmured, realising where she was going. "Hey Ammy, wait up!" he hopped after her.

By the time he'd reached the bottom of the slope, Amaterasu was already standing by the limp puppy, nudging his face with her muzzle. Chibi didn't react.

She threw back her head and let out a sorrowful howl.

"Sorry, Ammy," Issun sighed as he finally made it over to her. "It's my fault… I was the one who got Chibi caught…"

Amaterasu looked over at him, letting out a quiet whine and nudging him with her nose, nearly pushing him over. She wasn't blaming him.

"Damn, Ammy, you're way too forgiving," Issun tutted, jumping onto her head once more and preparing for any sudden movements. "Still, I know there's one freak I'm never forgiving, and for once it's not that half-baked prophet."

The goddess barked, nodding.

"Right. We gotta avenge Chibi, right?"

She nodded again, even more determined.

"Okay then! We gotta hunt down Tero!"

Ammy turned and raced back up the hill. Luckily Issun was prepared this time and managed to stay on her head. The wolf halted when she reached the place they'd last seen Tero and stood, sniffing the ground.

"Furball, you do remember he can teleport, right?" Picking up a scent wouldn't do anything if there was no trail to follow.

Amaterasu blinked, and then huffed despondently.

"Looking for Tero, eh, ma chérie?"

"Go away, fruitcake," Issun tutted. "We don't need your help. Go find a bandage or something."

"It's only a flesh wound," Waka shrugged. "Why are you trying to find Tero, Amaterasu?"

"To avenge Chibi, of course!" Issun snapped. "You do realise he's dead because of that guy!"

"Still, Tero is dangerous. It might be too risky to go after him."

"Yes, he's dangerous," Issun repeated. "And that's why we gotta stop him before he thinks up some new crazy plan to kill Ammy!"

Waka was silent for a moment, as if he were thinking over what Issun had just said. "Très bien. But if you're looking for him then I can't help. You should try asking Kaguya."

"Kaguya? How would she be able to find him?" Issun tipped his head to one side in confusion.

"Um… I-I can see what's happening pretty much anywhere in Nippon…" Kaguya spoke up, walking over having heard her name. "I might be able to find out where he is…"

"Whoa… seriously?" Issun gaped. "You can see what's going on, like, anywhere? Wow… I wish I could do that… heh…"

Ammy gave a quiet grumble.

"Right, right. Anyways, so you can really find Tero?" Issun asked, getting back to the main point.

"Yeah, though it might take me a few minutes to search everywhere."

"I don't care if it takes a few hours; you're a miracle, honeypie!" Issun cheered.

"Okay, I'll look now." Kaguya closed her eyes.

_Seems like the opposite of 'looking',_ Issun thought, although he didn't say it out loud. Sitting back on Ammy's fur to wait, he looked up at the sky. Now that they had the goddess back, the sun seemed a lot brighter.

The people who'd been in the fight were heading back to Kamiki now. Kuni and Nanami hung back, not wanting to leave Chibi behind, and Issun felt genuinely sorry for them.

_Don't worry, guys. We'll avenge him for you._

"I can't find him anywhere," Kaguya sighed after a few minutes of silence.

"Dammit," Issun groaned. "You sure?"

"Yeah. He's not anywhere in Nippon."

"Where the heck did he go then!?" Issun exclaimed. Tero wouldn't have gone too far away, but if he wasn't in Nippon…

_Hmm… what if…_

"Kaguya, how far can your powers search?"

"I'm not sure… I know I can search Nippon, but I haven't tried looking any further…"

"Do you think you'd be able to see what's going on in the north?"

"The… the north? You mean Kamui?"

"Yeah. Any chance you can look there?"

"Well, I can try…"

Issun waited as Kaguya closed her eyes again, using her mind to search the lands. He could only imagine what that must be like. Of course, if Issun had that power it probably wouldn't be the lands he was searching… but still.

Then she gasped.

"Found him."

"Really? Where is he?" Issun persisted, jumping up.

"I can't tell exactly. There's too much snow. I think there are some demons there as well…"

"Demons?" Issun blinked. "But why would he need demons in Kamui…?"

Then it hit him.

"Wep'keer. He must be heading there. Boy, does that guy have anger issues…"

"So we're heading to the north now?" Waka spoke up. "Okay, I'll have to meet you there."

"We don't need you, fruitcake! Get lost!"

"Charming," the prophet rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to leave Amaterasu to face that man on her own."

"She's not on her own. I'm going too!"

"And your presence does what, exactly?"

"Shut up!"

Ammy gave a bark.

"Bah. You're right, Ammy. We gotta get going," Issun turned away pointedly. "If the prophet wants to come too he'll have to catch up."

The wolf gave something that might have been a shrug, cast a last glance at Waka, and raced away in the direction of the tunnel to Kamui.

* * *

The second they emerged into daylight, Issun was hit by the full blast of the cold. Kamui was just as freezing as ever, but at least the snowstorm that had been here before seemed to have stopped.

"We gotta be careful, Ammy," he warned.

Ammy tried to glance up at him and barked.

"Ah… yeah… I knew that… of course he won't even know we're following him," Issun laughed to cover up his mistake. "But still… we should be careful anyways. At least your fur is mostly white."

The wolf glanced around at the snow before running on along the barely-distinguishable path. Issun was amazed by how quickly the scars on her side had healed. It had only taken them fifteen minutes to get through the tunnel to Kamui and already it was hard to see where the wounds had been.

He glanced at the scars that were still on his arms from the fight against Blight a few days ago and considered that being a god must be very handy at times…

They soon came to a small clearing with four piles of snow in it, which once had been torches but because of all the recent snow they'd been put out. Issun looked over at the igloo at the side of the clearing.

"Wonder if Oki's seen Tero," he shrugged. "Shall we go ask him?"

Amaterasu nodded and padded towards the snow house. She stopped just outside the door.

"Hey, Oki!" Issun called. "You around?"

No reply.

"Eh. Guess he ain't in," he shrugged. "C'mon, Ammy, let's go."

Ammy didn't listen to him. She was sniffing at the door.

"Ammy?"

She nudged her way past the cloth in the doorway which kept the snow out.

"Hey! Furball, don't you know it's rude to go barging into people's houses?" Issun tutted. "Wait… Oki?"

The Oina warrior was sat staring into the fire dismally, and didn't seem to notice them arrive. His mask was pushed up over his hair, which looked even scruffier than usual, and his eyes were red, almost as if he'd been crying…

"Hey, Oki!" Issun shouted, hopping in front of him and silently glad to be near the warm fire after being out in the snow. "You just gonna ignore us forever?"

Oki jumped as the poncle appeared in front of him. "Issun…? How long have you been here?"

"Geez, you look terrible," Issun commented, not bothering to answer the question. "Did something happen? Don't tell me Kai rejected you or something."

Oki flinched; looking upset, he glanced away.

"Oh wow," Issun muttered. "Hey, don't worry, Oki, it'll be okay."

"No it won't," Oki choked. "Nothing will ever be okay! Wep'keer was attacked by demons a few days ago and Kai… Kai…!" He broke off, burying his face in his arms.

It was then that Issun realised what he was talking about.

"W-wait, you mean… the demon attack… Kai was…"

"One of the demons hit her… I tried to get her away from the village but we were attacked… and I couldn't do anything…!" Oki sobbed. Issun could tell he was crying now.

"Kai…" the poncle breathed. He'd known Kai for years, ever since he found her lost in Yoshpet and had helped her find her way back to the village.

_Kai… is dead…?_

He could feel a tear rolling down his own face, but he wiped it away hurriedly. As much as the news had hit him, Oki was upset enough already. If Issun started going on about Kai now he'd only upset the guy even more. He swallowed hard and tried to remember why they'd come here in the first place.

"Oki, you haven't seen a guy in a black coat around here anywhere, have you?" Issun asked.

The Oina warrior didn't reply, and for a moment Issun wondered if he'd even heard the question. Eventually he lifted his head and wiped his eyes, as if trying to disguise the fact that he'd been crying even though they already knew. "No, I haven't seen anyone. I haven't been outside for a while…"

"Oh, okay," Issun shrugged. "We think he's heading for Wep'keer with a bunch of demons… we could use an extra fighter?"

"I want to protect the village, but…" Oki clenched his fist. "I can't. I couldn't even save Kai."

_He really is upset,_ Issun thought to himself. Oki had always seemed so self-confident when it came to fighting demons. "Well, okay then. We got Ammy with us anyways; we can deal with that freak and his demons."

Issun hopped back over to Ammy and jumped onto her head once more. "C'mon furball, we'd better make tracks. Tero could already be at Wep'keer by now."


	36. Quenching the Fire

**Weellll this is a long chapter. The longest so far, in fact...**

**Probably because quite a lot happens in it xD**

**So then, in the next chapter, we are going BACK TO THE PAST for the second time... so judging by the last time we did that, it may take a while to write xD**

**But now ENJOY THE KAMUI.**

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the snowy path to Wep'keer. As soon as Ammy crossed the bridge over the frozen river, Issun heard something echoing around the snowy cliffs surrounding them.

A flute.

"Okay, prophet, we know you're there!" he shouted, rolling his eyes. "You don't have to try and make such a dramatic entrance."

A few moments later there was a draft as Waka floated down to land next to them, the wings of his hat folding behind him as he reached the ground. "Honestly, mon ami. First you complain about me startling you and then you complain when I actually let you know I'm there," he rolled his eyes in mock despair. "I can't win."

"If you didn't want to hear me complaining you shouldn't have followed us here in the first place," Issun tutted.

"If I was following you then how did I get here first?" Waka teased.

"By going the easy way and teleporting," Issun huffed. "Lazy prophet."

Waka just laughed. He'd bandaged the wound on his chest but he hadn't bothered changing his clothes, which he was probably regretting now since he was shivering slightly because of the Kamui cold. Issun was glad that Ammy's fur was relatively warm so he wasn't as affected by the frigid temperature – and he was used to the weather here anyways since this was the place where he was born.

"Well anyways," he muttered. "We haven't seen Tero anywhere here yet, so we'd better get to the village. He's probably already there."

* * *

Tuskle was sat on a rock at the top of Wep'keer, watching over the village below as she'd promised Samickle. She was beginning to wonder how he was able to just stand here for so long when nothing happened. At least the sun was in the sky now, so it was warmer than it had been earlier.

There was a hooting sound from somewhere nearby, and a small silver owl fluttered over to her, regaining its position balancing on her mask. It turned its head and gave another hoot.

"Hm?" Tuskle murmured. "Is something wrong?"

The silver owl hooted again, looking over at the entrance to the village.

Tuskle followed the glance, watching the path. She couldn't see anything…

Then she finally noticed someone. It was a man with black dreadlocked hair, walking along with his hands in the pockets of a coat. It was hard to tell from here but it looked like the shirt underneath his coat was stained with blood, as if he'd been injured.

"Has he come here because he's wounded?" she asked no one in particular, thinking aloud.

The owl gave another hoot.

"What? Demons?"

She watched as the man glanced behind him, seeming strangely calm as he watched a large nine-tailed fox, a floating mechanical hand and a bunch of other smaller demons follow him.

Immediately Tuskle morphed into her wolf form, the owls letting out alarmed hoots at the sudden movement.

It looked like she was going to have to go and wake Samickle after all.

* * *

Amaterasu sniffed the air as she hurried along the path between the cliffs. They were nearly at the village now and she could already smell the demons. Her sense of smell wasn't even that good, and she could still pick up the foul stench. The wolf grimaced, a growl rising in her throat. He was definitely here. Unless he'd just sent a bunch of demons off to attack Wep'keer… but at least her help would still be needed. Even after running all the way here from the south, being stuck inside a cage for days had made her itching for a fight.

As soon as they emerged into the clearing, it was easy to tell that the place was in pandemonium. Namahages were swarming throughout the village and wolves raced around, either trying to drive the demons away or get to safety. Samickle was fighting against two demons across the clearing and Tuskle was snarling at a third one as she tried to stop it from getting to Lika, who was backed up against the frozen waterfall.

There was only one way to end this battle.

Quickly Amaterasu gave herself a brisk shake, making sure that Issun fell off into the snow. She didn't want to risk him getting hurt.

"Oof! What the heck, furball!?" he cried, trying to scramble out of the snow drift.

Ignoring him, Ammy raced forwards, dodging as a Namahage tried to swing its axe at her. She noticed Yami glance around from inside the glass orb attached to his mechanical hand, but surprisingly upon noticing her he didn't do anything.

Luckily for him, it wasn't the demon lord she was after.

She leapt towards Tero, lashing out with her solar flare. It looked like she was actually going to be able to hit him when he glanced around at the last moment.

A barrier appeared in the air and she crashed into it, rebounded back into the snow with a yelp. Ammy quickly righted herself and jumped up, snarling furiously.

"I see you've followed me, you stupid god," Tero frowned. "Did you decide you wanted to die after all?"

Ammy just growled. She wasn't going to get beaten by him again. Flicking her tail, she drew an asterisk in the air.

A massive snowflake appeared above them, icicles falling from it and spearing the ground. Tero looked up and teleported away before he could get hit.

Amaterasu was alert as he appeared behind her, and as he tried to hit her with one of his swords she jumped around, using the Trinity Mirror she had as a sub weapon and deflecting his attack.

Seeing the somewhat surprised expression on Tero's face as he jumped back, Amaterasu bared her teeth in a smirk. _You're not the only one with a barrier. Looks like you've finally met your match._

Tero narrowed his eyes. "Fine. I don't know why I'm wasting my time on you. Yami, you can take care of the mongrel."

The foetus just glared at him through piercing red eyes, floating back slightly.

"Hah! You're no match for Ammy!" Issun scoffed, now having found his way out of the snow drift.

"Using demons to cover up his own lack of skills," Waka smirked. "How pathétique."

Looking slightly frustrated that the demon was no longer obeying him, Tero cast a glance over at where Issun and Waka were standing by the entrance of the village. Looking back at Amaterasu once more, he grinned. "Whatever the case is, I can still kill your friends."

The goddess froze.

_You wouldn't dare!_

Suddenly there was a loud growl from somewhere nearby, and hurriedly Tero jumped aside as a blue and red blur nearly jumped on him. He made a counterattack but it did little more than scar the wolf's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't move around so fast, I'll fall off!"

"Oh, sorry," Oki apologised, stepping back slowly so that the poncle didn't fall off his head.

_Isn't that…_

_Ishaku!?_

"Gramps!" Issun shouted. "What the heck are you doing here!?"

"Hm? Oh, Issun, there you are," Ishaku looked across the clearing. "Well, let's just say I had the instinctive feeling that something was happening to Ammy. So I headed here and hitched a lift with this Oina on the way."

"You're crazy," Issun tutted. "Anyways, Oki, I thought you weren't coming?"

Oki padded over to the edge of the clearing, lowering his head so that Ishaku could climb onto one of the nearby rocks. "I changed my mind," he said simply. "Issun, what's going on?"

"Well, long story short," Issun shrugged, "that guy over there in the coat is a freak who like, controls demons and stuff. And I'm pretty certain he's been the one reviving all those demons and sending them about and stuff."

"He's the one behind the demon attacks?" Oki froze. "You mean… i-it's his fault that…"

"Yeah…" Issun mumbled awkwardly.

Morphing back into his human form, Oki drew his sword. Even with the mask on Issun could see his eyes glowing red, and he jumped back as snow and ice from the ground lifted into the air around the Oina, forming floating shards.

_Whoa…_ he'd forgotten Oki could do that.

A second later the ice spears shot through the air, heading towards Tero. The man shrugged and held out one hand, a barrier appearing in the air in front of him. As soon as the ice hit the barrier it disintegrated.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention he has all these crazy powers as well," Issun shrugged. "So he kinda like, isn't easy to fight…"

* * *

Yami watched through narrowed eyes as the battle commenced. The warriors of the Oina tribe were shredding the Namahages but that was of no interest to him. The only fight he was interested in was the one between Tero and Amaterasu.

For once he actually wasn't sure who he wanted to win this battle. On one hand, he hated the goddess and wanted to kill her with a burning passion – after all, he was a demon – but he also despised Tero for being more powerful than him.

But yet, Tero had escaped the last time there was a battle between the two of them. This could go either way.

And knowing how either of them could probably beat him, this wasn't a fight he was too keen on joining either…

_Master, what should we do?_

The giant fox glanced worriedly over at him, nine tails twitching nervously. Yami cast a quick glance in his direction before looking back at the fight, not replying.

_Tero will be angry because you didn't do what he said… master, you know how powerful he is!_

_Oh, stop whining, _Yami huffed, glaring at Ninetails. _If we're lucky then Amaterasu will beat him anyways._

Ninetails' ears flattened against his head slightly. _But he nearly managed to kill her before…_

_Yes, but all of these stupid human things are joining in the fight too. So long as their attention stays on him and not us we'll be fine._

The fox blinked and glanced away. _Okay, master._

* * *

"Bonjour, Ishaku. It's been a while."

"Hm? Oh, Waka!" the old poncle exclaimed. "Too right it's been ages. I don't think I've seen you in years! I would say you've grown but you look the same age as you did one hundred years ago. I'm jealous."

"Staying young does have its downsides, trust me," Waka countered wryly.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Issun cried. "Gramps, don't tell me you actually _know_ this fruitcake!"

"Yes, why?"

"Because he's a half-baked prophet, that's why!" Issun snapped, bouncing furiously. "You don't become friends with half-baked prophets. It's bad karma."

"Well, I see you've already managed to make an enemy out of my grandson," Ishaku mused, looking up at Waka. "You haven't changed much, have you?"

Waka just shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

"Apparently, so do you," Issun grumbled. "Anyways, aren't you even going to join the fight?"

"Why? Amaterasu has things under control, and some of the Oina are helping. Not to mention if Tero tries killing any of us then we can attack him."

"If it wasn't for the fact that Ammy would probably crush me, if it's all the same to you I'd rather just let you die."

"Merci beaucoup. You'll be glad to know the feeling isn't mutual since ma chérie needs a Celestial Envoy."

"You got that right, prophet. I'm a V.I.P.!" Issun scoffed.

"A V.I.P. who hasn't been doing his job in months," Ishaku pointed out.

"This isn't your argument, gramps!"

Leaving the two poncles to bicker, Waka returned to watching the fight.

Most of the Namahages had been defeated by now – the remaining ones had decided they were outnumbered and fled since Ninetails and Yami showed no interest in joining the battle. Now most of the Oina had either gone to safety or were gathered around to help with the fight.

Without the demons helping him, Tero was clearly outnumbered. Yet still he didn't seem fazed. Any time an attack was aimed at him he simply used his barrier to block it.

Was it even possible to defeat him?

Oki kept switching between his powers of controlling ice and trying to hit Tero with his sword, both of which were rebounded by the barrier. So was an attack from a pale blue wolf. A fierce gale swept throughout the village as Amaterasu used her Galestorm technique but that had little to no effect as well.

At least with everyone trying to fight him at once, Tero wasn't able to counterattack without letting his guard down.

Suddenly there was a loud roar, and everyone other than Amaterasu and Tero ran for the sides of the clearing as Ninetails jumped forward, snarling. He was heading for the wolf.

"At least one of the demons is still well-behaved," Tero muttered.

Amaterasu growled, ready to face the demon. Yet as soon as the fox was a metre away from her, he skidded to a halt. The wolf stepped back in surprise.

It had been a distraction. The second Ninetails stopped, he span around and lunged towards Tero.

The man actually looked somewhat surprised, but he still managed to create the barrier before he was hit. Ninetails was rebounded by the energy from it, but simply shrugged it off. He attacked again but with no more luck than the last time.

"Stupid fox!" Tero snapped as the demon kept trying to slash at him. "If you won't obey me then I no longer have any use for you!"

As Ninetails lunged at him again he lashed out with both swords. A ferocious yowl, black blood splashed onto the ice, and the demon fell to the ground.

Waka was somewhat taken aback. As much as he hated demons, Tero had managed to defeat a powerful one in one strike. The giant fox had been deeply scarred, one wound across his chest and another across the front of his neck, right through his throat. It was strange to almost feel sorry for a demon…

Despite the wounds, Ninetails managed to lift his head off the icy ground, glancing over at Yami.

"I'm sorry, master…"

Then his head dropped to the ground once more, his remaining eye closing as the light faded from it.

A silent breeze drifted through the village as the demon fragmented into cherry blossom petals that floated away on the wind. A giant flower appeared on the ground where he had been, fading a moment later and leaving no trace of the fox.

For a few seconds, everyone was silent.

"Well then," Tero sneered. "Who else wants a fight? I can assure you the same thing will happen to you!"

"Not today, psycho!"

_Issun!?_

There was a quiet metallic sound as the poncle drew his pin-sword. He'd somehow managed to make it to Tero unnoticed and had jumped onto his shoulder. As the man tried to throw him off he jumped away, carrying something. It looked like a pebble on a string.

"Ah—hey! Stupid bug, get back here!" Tero cried.

"Can't use your freaky powers without the Akukaen Crystal, can ya?" Issun jibed, hopping over to Amaterasu where he'd be safe. "Score one for the magnificent Issun!"

So that was what the big deal about it was. That crystal was what had given Tero all his strange powers. So now that Issun had taken it from him…

They had a big advantage.

Tero glanced around the clearing at everyone there; Amaterasu and Issun, Waka, Yami, Oki, Samickle and Ishaku. As if he was trying to decide what to do. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Waka could just about see an emotion in his eyes.

Fear.

He knew he was outnumbered, and although that hadn't seemed to bother him before, without his barrier or ability to teleport he'd be pretty much defenceless. He wouldn't let it show, however.

There was a buzzing sound from nearby and Tero looked over at Yami, who was curled into a ball, charging his laser. A moment later a massive ray of heat shot through the air towards him.

Waka couldn't see what happened next. The heat of the laser collided with the snow and created a massive cloud of ice.

"Aaah! I can't see a thing!" Issun shouted from somewhere within the cloud. "Ammy, let's get away from here!"

The wolf gave a bark in response, and soon the two of them came into sight as Amaterasu raced over to Waka and Ishaku. Once she reached them, she glanced behind her.

"Did he get hit?" Ishaku asked.

"I don't know," Issun shrugged. "Hopefully."

"That's not the only problem," Waka muttered. "Yami is still here, after all. You only just managed to defeat him last time, ma chérie."

"Oh stop being such a wimp, prophet," Issun tutted. "If you're scared of a little fish demon we can easily take care of it."

Waka didn't bother trying to phrase a reply. Issun still had no idea how dangerous Yami was. Or how much Waka hated him…

Eventually the ice cloud dispersed. The mechanical hand was still floating in the air but Tero had vanished.

"I don't see him," Issun stated, hopping down from the wolf's head and into the clearing. "You don't suppose he was turned to ashes, do you?"

"Yami's laser isn't that powerful," Waka told him quietly. And he should know.

The foetus narrowed his eyes, glancing towards Issun and starting to curl up again.

"Hey, hey! Don't shoot me!" he protested, jumping back. "I know you're a demon an' all but we gotta work out what to do with this crystal. You don't want Tero getting his hands on it again and killing you, do ya?"

Yami broke out of the charge. Probably because he'd seen the sense in what the poncle was saying. But he still had a threatening look in his eyes, as if he was still considering killing all of them.

"Hmm…" Issun muttered. He held the crystal in one hand – which was rather awkward considering it was almost half his size – and threw his other hand against the ice. "Burn powers!"

Nothing happened.

"Ah! _Cold_!" he gasped, jumping back and shaking his arm as if trying to get the blood going through it again. "Well that didn't work."

"Issun, only humans can use the Akukaen Crystal," Ishaku reminded him.

"Oh yeah—wait… gramps, you know about the Akukaen Crystal!?"

"Of course I do! It's supposed to be just a legend, mind," the old poncle added.

"Why didn't you tell us!?"

"I didn't know anything that was going on outside of Ponc'tan, how was I supposed to know one even existed?" Ishaku rolled his eyes. "Anyways, when you reach my age, you find yourself reading about all sorts of things."

"Très bien," Waka continued. "Is there a way to destroy one?"

"Hmm," Ishaku mumbled. "Well, if I recall correctly, since the crystal is made from the blood of demons and gods, a demon and a god are needed to destroy it…"

"Well, we got a demon and a god here," Issun shrugged. "Should be simple enough."

Amaterasu blinked and padded out into the clearing next to Issun, grabbing the string in her jaws and taking the crystal from him.

"Ma chérie, be careful!" Waka warned.

The wolf glanced at Yami, giving a half-bark. Looking somewhat surprised, the foetus narrowed his eyes. He wasn't too happy about helping them, but anything to stop Tero from getting his powers back.

Amaterasu jerked her head, throwing the crystal high into the air. Yami quickly curled up, the orb glowing as he charged his laser, and a second later a ray of light shot into the air, hitting the crystal. It froze in the air, shining brightly. The demon power in it had been removed.

"Go on then, Ammy," Issun said, nudging her. "Your turn."

Nodding, the wolf glanced up at the crystal and flicked her tail, delivering a strong power slash.

The second she did so, the crystal shattered. Shards glinted in the air, disappearing as they floated towards the ground, almost like a firework.

"Whoa…" Issun gaped. "Hey, what's happening to Yami?"

Waka had been watching the crystal vanish and at first he hadn't noticed anything about the embryo. But now that the fragments had disappeared, he realised that the demon lord seemed to be disintegrating… into cherry blossom petals…

Was this because Tero had used the power of the crystal to bring him back to life?

At first Yami flailed his fins desperately, as if he didn't understand what was going on. His armour was disappearing and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet after a few moments he seemed to calm down, watching as the cherry blossoms were carried away on the breeze. He glanced over at Amaterasu.

Even though he was dying, the demon had decided that this was a much better way to go than being killed by a human.

The last few cherry blossom petals floated away, and the demon was gone without a trace.

Waka wasn't really sure what to think. Still, he felt slightly relieved that Yami was gone now…

"Well, that was certainly weird," Issun broke the silence. "So then, Ammy. What do you say we do next?"

"I'm going to go and make sure the villagers are okay after the demon attack," Samickle decided. "Oki, are you coming?"

The blue-masked Oina hesitated for a moment before he replied. "Yeah, okay."

"Any chance of getting a lift back to Yoshpet?" Ishaku asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll help you first," Oki nodded. "I'll be back soon, Samickle." He morphed back into his wolf form and padded over to the rock.

Waka wandered over to join Amaterasu and Issun. "Well then, ma chérie. We still don't know what's happened to Tero."

The wolf pricked her ears. She padded over to the place they'd last seen Tero, where the snow had been melted by Yami's laser. Yet in the snow beyond, there was something Waka hadn't noticed before.

Footprints.

"It looks like Tero escaped," he pointed out.

"Bah. He's still too fast even without that darn crystal," Issun mumbled. "Looks like he was heading up to Laochi Lake."

Amaterasu turned to look at them, giving a bark. Waka understood her in an instant.

"Ma chérie, are you sure you want to go after him? He doesn't have his powers now; he's not much of a threat…"

Another bark. She had such resolve in her eyes. This wasn't just about whether he was a threat or not. She wanted to get Tero back for everything he'd done… including killing Chibi.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Issun cheered, hopping onto her head. "Let's go find that creep!"

Waka let out a long sigh. "Very well, ma chérie. If that's what you want."

* * *

Issun scanned the surroundings as Ammy sped along the path towards Laochi Lake. The surface of the water had refrozen because of the recent storm, and as soon as they reached Kutone's altar the footprint trail vanished.

"Did he go over the lake?" Issun wondered aloud.

Ammy just shrugged, hopping down onto the ice. It was definitely thick enough to hold their weight, although the murky water below the surface made Issun feel uneasy. The ark was still hovering above the lake from when they arrived here, and that just made the whole place seem just as creepy as when it had been half-submerged in the lake…

Issun cast a glance behind them. Waka was still following them by floating along though he was having trouble keeping up with the fast pace of the goddess.

The wolf took off at a somewhat slower run across the ice – it was harder to grip on the slippery surface. At least they were heading in a straight line. Issun continued to look around as they headed across the lake.

At last, as they passed underneath the ark he noticed something.

"Over there! There he is!"

He'd spotted Tero at last. The man had managed to climb the cliffs at the side of the lake and was now half way up one of the mountains of Ezofuji. Damn, that guy was fast…

Ammy skidded to a halt when they reached the edge of the lake, putting her front paws up against the cliff and growling.

"Bah, there's no way we're climbing up there," Issun muttered. "What do we do now?"

"Leave this to me, ma chérie."

Both Issun and Ammy glanced around as there was a strong gust of wind, and Waka used it to float up above the cliffs.

"Hey!" Issun shouted, but Waka ignored him. He glanced back down at Ammy. "Great. With his track record, leaving the fight to that half-baked prophet probably isn't a good idea. There must be another way up there."

Ammy looked around quickly, eventually looking up towards Affun gate and barking.

"Good call, Ammy. We might be able to get there if we go through Wawku Shrine." He pointed to the top of the snowy slope. "Let's hurry up and get there before that fruitcake does something stupid like getting himself killed!"


	37. Seeking a Legend

**Phew OK so I kinda skimmed through this chapter since it's another past one... guess who's turn it is this time.**

**For those who don't know, Kansei translates to "quiet"... according to Google.**

**Also we are actually in Okami-time at one point of this. Again. And hopefully not screwing with any continuity.**

**Oh and look, the one and only cameo of Shiranui, hooraaaay.**

**So happy to have Waka back in the next chapter I've had enough of these past-chapters ffff**

* * *

"Honestly, Kansei. You really need to brush your hair one of these days; it's getting such a mess."

A middle-aged woman was standing at the doorway of a room, watching an 11-year-old boy who was sat in the corner, reading a book. He didn't appear to hear her – or ignored her.

Megumi let out a long sigh. "Do you want me to do it for you?"

The boy looked up from the book at last. "No. Leave me alone."

She sighed again. "Okay then. You really need to find something better to do than read all day."

Kansei ignored her, and a moment later she walked away. Good. That never failed to work. If he didn't want people going on at him he just ignored them and they left.

He'd been stuck in this place for years, ever since his parents had been killed by thieves. He'd been too young to remember much about them – all he could remember was living here. Nine years ago he'd been taken in by the family that lived in his large house, but he wasn't fooled. There were a lot of kids who had also been brought up here, and he knew that the people who lived and worked here were paid to care for them. Nothing was real.

But he liked this room. It was practically a library with all the books and scrolls piled into it. He had little interest in fiction – nothing about that was real either – but there was a lot of information on different creatures here. Things that people weren't sure if they existed, but there was still a chance. Things that were a lot more interesting than humans.

And demons. The supposedly evil creatures were everywhere; most people had seen them at some point in their lives. And according to the books in here, there were even ways to create them…

His concentration was broken at a noise from outside. Shouting and crying.

_Ugh. Those guys again._

Stupid obnoxious people. Absent-mindedly he wondered who they were bullying this time.

Ah well. He was getting fed up of them causing a ruckus all the time, so maybe he should just go tell them to shut up.

* * *

Kansei glanced around the doorway into the fresh air, still carrying the book he'd been reading. Glancing around the yard, he eventually spotted the group of three young teenage boys. They were possibly the most violent out of all the kids here and seemed to enjoy hurting others. Most of the others were scared of them. Kansei wasn't. To him, they were just more obnoxious people. More people who didn't like him.

It seemed their target this time was one of the younger girls. She was backed up against a tree, a scratch on her arm and crying her eyes out.

_All that fuss over a tiny wound, _Kansei rolled his eyes. No wonder there was hardly ever any quiet here. He wandered out into the yard.

"Can you lot keep the noise down?" he called. "It's hard to concentrate with some obnoxious kid shouting or crying every three seconds."

The eldest of the boys turned his attention on him. "Oh look, it's the quiet kid. Finally worked out how to use your voice, bookworm?"

"At least I don't talk just for the pleasure of hearing my own voice, Matsuo," Kansei scoffed.

"Yeah, I can imagine," Matsuo smirked. "What are you gonna do, brat? Read a story and make everyone fall asleep?"

All three of the boys laughed. The girl just looked on, terrified. At least she'd stopped crying now. That had been getting annoying.

"You wouldn't understand any of it anyways. You're far too much of an idiot," Kansei tutted.

"An idiot, huh?" Matsuo snapped. He walked over to Kansei, clenching his fist. "Would you like to see this 'idiot' beat you to a pulp?"

As Matsuo swung an arm at him, Kansei jumped back – apparently not fast enough, because he still got hit in the shoulder. Not hard enough to push him over, however. It didn't hurt as much as it would have done if he hadn't moved out of the way.

_Stupid idiots._

He wasn't as strong as Matsuo was, so there'd be no point in getting into a fistfight. But clearly the older boy still intended to hurt him. He wasn't going to just stand here and look helpless.

So he did the only thing he could; swing the book at him.

Good thing the book he'd reading had been pretty heavy. He managed to hit Matsuo in the arm and the force of it knocked him over.

"Beat me to a pulp, you say?" Kansei muttered. "Nice job there."

"A bookworm fights with a book. How fitting," one of the other boys jibed.

"Stupid brat!" Matsuo growled, getting back to his feet and clutching his arm with one hand. "Don't think you'll get away with this!"

"Kansei! Matsuo! Stop fighting right now!"

Both of them glanced around to see Len, one of the people who worked here, storming over to them. He didn't look happy. He hardly ever did. But he looked even more bad-tempered than usual. "What's going on here?"

"Stupid kid hit me," Matsuo grumbled.

"Kansei?"

"I just wanted them to keep the noise down," Kansei muttered.

"So you hit him with a book?"

"He hit me first."

Len just sighed. "Get out of here, both of you. I have it in my right mind to keep you all in solitary."

* * *

Clouds hung gloomily in the sky above. Everyone else was inside for once, not wanting to be outside with the threat of rain. At least that meant it was finally quiet out here.

Kansei wandered around on the dusty ground at the side of the building, using a twig to draw runes in the earth. Every now and then he glanced up at the open book which was propped up against the wall for reference.

_There. Done._

He stepped back to where he could inspect the image. He'd carved a circle into the ground, various lines and curves inside it. According to the book, this was the kind of mark that could be used to create demons.

But nothing had happened yet. Perhaps he didn't draw it properly. It was only his first attempt, after all, so perhaps it only worked if it was drawn perfectly…

A few drops of rain fell from the sky, creating spots on the ground. The circle would get washed away soon anyways.

"Hey, brat! Stop your stupid drawing; I got a bone to pick with you!"

Kansei just sighed. Matsuo was back again, it seemed.

The boy charged around the side of the building, and since the shirt he was wearing didn't have sleeves, it was easy to see the blue-black bruise on his arm that Kansei had given him yesterday when he hit him with the book.

Unfortunately, Kansei hadn't noticed what he was carrying in his other hand.

He suddenly got a sharp pain in his arm, blood spraying onto the dusty earth as the blade cut through his skin. Kansei fell backwards onto the ground in shock.

"There. That'll teach you not to go picking fights with people who are way out of your league," Matsuo smirked. "You—what the…"

Kansei glanced behind him to see what Matsuo seemed surprised about. His blood had splashed onto the runes he'd made in the ground, and now they were glowing faintly. Then the glow faded, and a black fog swirled around, condensing in the centre of the circle before fading away.

Left in the middle of the circle was a strange green monkey-like creature with a mask. Apparently this type of creature was called an imp.

"What the heck is _that_!?" Matsuo exclaimed.

His voice alerted the demon and it glanced around, letting out a strange cawing noise.

Then it charged towards him.

Matsuo screamed, dropping the knife and running away as the imp chased after him. He raced across the yard and the imp followed, bounding along and making more shrieking noises as it repeatedly tried to hit him, ending up scraping the ground instead.

Kansei just watched, laughing. This was too hilarious.

Once he reached the other side of the yard, Matsuo tried to climb the tree. He wasn't too good at climbing, but apparently the imp wasn't either and the boy was soon out of its reach.

Then the demon looked towards Kansei and came bounding back towards him, giving more shrieking noises. This imp definitely wasn't friendly.

Hurriedly Kansei took a step back. What should he do? There were no trees to climb over here. And this demon didn't seem to be smart enough to realise he was the one who created it…

Then he spotted the knife glinting on the ground.

As quickly as he could, Kansei made a dash for the weapon and grabbed the handle, just as the imp was almost upon him.

The demon lunged. The knife went straight through its chest.

Letting out another shriek, the imp fell to the ground. Once it hit the earth it vanished, a flower sprouting where it had been a moment before. The plant glowed for a second and then faded.

_Wow…_

He'd done it. Not only had he created a demon but he'd managed to defend himself from it as well.

Kansei smiled to himself, not noticing the rain starting to get heavier.

"_What did you do, idiot_!?"

The shout brought him back to his senses as Matsuo stormed over and grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"What do you think you're doing, you stupid brat? Using creepy witchcraft or whatever it is you're doing!"

Kansei could see why people feared Matsuo. He still didn't. Shrugging, he smirked. "What was that you said about taking on people out of your league? If I were you, I wouldn't be trying to beat someone like me up."

Matsuo just laughed. "Oh, and what makes you so special? Just because you defeated some random mutated monkey?"

"I know how to summon demons. If you try beating me up again, I can easily set one on you."

That might have been stretching the truth slightly, but his words still made Matsuo look scared. Immediately he let go of his shirt, shoving him back, and Kansei found himself falling to the ground once more.

"What are you two doing _now_?"

Len's voice echoed around the yard over the sound of the rain. He was standing nearby, looking unimpressed as usual. He'd noticed the scar on Kansei's arm – which was still bleeding – and gave Matsuo a fierce glare.

The older boy glanced at Kansei, still looking somewhat scared. "He pulled some kind of witchcraft and made this freaky monster appear!"

Kansei cast a quick glance behind him. The runes had been washed away by the rain already.

"Matsuo, why don't you just leave Kansei alone? At least then you won't get confused with these stories he's been reading as well," Len tutted. "Go on now, inside, both of you. Incase you hadn't noticed, it's raining out here."

Matsuo hurried away, probably eager to be away from Kansei incase he made any more demons appear. The younger boy followed more slowly, picking up the book as he headed back inside.

He wouldn't forget the look of terror on Matsuo's face as he ran away from that demon… or how scared he'd looked when Kansei had given him that threat. These thoughts made Kansei feel strangely content. He'd given up on getting people to like him a long time ago, but he'd never realised how good it felt to see people scared of him before.

* * *

Trees flashed past on either side as Kansei raced through the forest. The heavy thundering footsteps of the demon echoed from not far behind. Well, that plan had certainly backfired…

It had been three years since he had first tried creating demons – since then he had learnt a lot more about the subject, now able to create demons much more powerful than simple imps.

After a few years, the people of the village they lived in had found out about his ability. The kids at the home had known about it long before, and most of them had feared him for it – of course, the adults who worked there hadn't believed a thing until they'd seen it for themselves.

Yet nobody appreciated his talent. As soon as the villagers had discovered that he could summon demons, they'd marked him as wanted for being a danger to them. At least that meant they feared him.

And he'd revelled in that. Kansei had summoned a bunch of demons, including some pretty powerful ones, and set them on the village. It had created utter chaos. People were injured, maybe even killed. Everything had been going so well.

Until the demon had decided to turn on him.

The Bull Charger had chased him through the forest. There was a rocky cliff towering into the sky not far ahead but it looked like it had a lot of footholds on it. Perfect.

As he reached the base of the cliff he jumped, trying to find some grip on the rocks. It wasn't too hard. Having now been creating demons for years, it was good to learn how to get away from them…

He made it up to a wide ledge just as the Bull Charger came crashing into the rocks, causing a few of them to dislodge and it's horned mask to get stuck in the cliff. It pulled the giant mask free, glancing up at Kansei and giving a snort. It stayed there for a few moments before wandering off.

Kansei breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it was gone. He might have been able to kill an imp but it was going to take a lot more practice before he was able to defeat a demon that powerful…

Maybe for now he should stick to only summoning demons that he would be able to destroy as well incase they decided to turn on him.

Still, he had to decide what to do next. There was no point in leaving here for a while incase the Bull Charger came back, and there was no way he could go back to the village now.

Not that he really minded.

There was one thing he was really interested in at the moment. He'd done a lot of research on it; the Akukaen Crystal. It was a legend of a crystal which only one person had successfully managed to make before, and it had been destroyed not long after due to the sheer power it had. It needed the blood of demons and gods to be created, and that was the main reason that it was so hard to make.

But it sounded amazing. Another thing that would be useful about that crystal was the fact that with its power, he would no longer need to use blood to create demons. He'd spent years trying to find a way around that; when there were no other people around, he'd had to use his own blood. Sighing, he glanced at the many scars that covered his arms. With the Akukaen Crystal, everything would be so much easier…

So it was decided. With nowhere else to go, he might as well head out and try to create the legend. Just imagine how much people would fear him then.

There was just one thing he wanted to deal with first. His name. He was tired of being Kansei. He didn't want to be the quiet one. From now on, he wanted a more fitting name… one that would fit with the terror he wanted to bring to people.

Yes. That was it.

Tero.

* * *

"Get out of my way!"

A great tengu swooped down from the top of the eerie clockwork room, heading right for the man who was walking through. The second it was almost upon him he jumped aside, unsheathing two swords from either side of his belt.

The demon shrieked as black blood splashed onto the floor, and it fell to the frozen ground, bursting into a giant flower.

"Humph. Petty demon," Tero tutted. He pulled his black coat more firmly around himself. It was freezing cold in Kamui, even in the somewhat sheltered buildings of Wawku Shrine.

It had been years since he left the village he'd lived in. Since then he'd almost perfected the art of creating demons – he even knew the basics of how to bring back previously killed ones. He'd also obtained his long black coat and two swords. Having been summoning demons for a long time now, he was a pretty good fighter – mostly for self defence, but he could probably still attack someone if need be.

He'd spent a long time trying to create the Akukaen Crystal. The easiest part of the task was done; being able to summon and fight demons meant that getting the blood of one had been simple. It was the second part which was the hardest; finding the blood of a god. And that would mean fighting one of the most powerful creatures in existence.

He'd tried finding a way around it, using the blood of someone related to Nagi instead – after all, the legendary swordsman was almost revered as a god here. But that hadn't worked, so he'd had to travel to Nippon instead. Apparently there was a god in Nippon. And the last he'd heard, it had headed here, to Wawku Shrine.

And if he was going to have to fight a god, then so be it.

Eventually the corridor opened out, and Tero found himself in something that looked like a circular arena. The stone walls had altars with fire and ice in them and there was a section where the wall had been destroyed, leaving a view from the top of the mountains.

There were some steps leading up to what looked like it should have been a platform, although now there was just a massive circular gaping hole. This place was full of clockwork devices. Maybe there had been something there before. Curiously, he walked over to the edge and looked down.

Far below – a lot farther than it would be safe to jump – there was a circular platform at the bottom of the gap, the same size as the opening on the surface. Maybe that was what usually went here. But that wasn't what seemed the most important here – on the platform below, there was a red and white wolf, collapsed on the stone. A small yellow light hopped around nearby. It was hard to tell exactly what had happened to it, but the wolf looked injured. It also appeared to have a mane of light flowing from its back.

Was this a god?

It definitely wasn't a demon, and the fact that its fur glowed so brightly proved that it wasn't any ordinary wolf. This had to be a god. It had crimson markings on its face and back, but there were even more red patches than it seemed there were supposed to be – there was blood on the ground. This god was already injured. It looked like Tero wouldn't have to fight anything after all.

However, getting down this shaft might be easier said than done…

Tero glanced around, searching for anything that might provide a way down. Then his eyes came to rest on the area where the wall had crumbled; there was a lot of blood fresh on the floor there as well.

Perhaps he wouldn't need to get down into the shaft. There was nobody else around, so that blood must have come from the injured god. He could use that.

He'd finally managed to do it. Once the blood from the wolf god was added to the Akukaen Crystal it would be complete.

_Just think of how many people will fear me now._


	38. The Final Battle

**Eeeyup. After this there's only one chapter and the epilogue left. I'm gonna be sad to see this story finished...**

**But anyways, Waka, it's finally your time to shine! ... and probably get beaten up some more because you're Waka. Yeah.**

**Just a heads up, the next chapter might be a bit later than usual. Going to London for the weekend. So if you're at ComicCon and see a Waka, well... go say hi mk? ^^**

**Well then. BRING ON THE WALL... erm... fight...!**

* * *

The Kamui wind didn't do any favours as Waka used the wings on his hat to float up the side of Ezofuji. Tero seemed to have vanished already, but the prophet was determined to find him. Amaterasu wasn't the only one who thought he needed to pay for everything he'd done.

Of course, Waka knew that he himself had done wrong in the past. Yet he hadn't purposefully lead the Celestials to their deaths and he'd been wracked with guilt about it ever since. Tero was different. He hadn't appeared to care about all the pain he was causing everyone – maybe even enjoyed watching them suffer. And it was highly doubtful that he regretted anything he'd done.

Waka halted as he reached a small rocky outcrop that protruded from the side of the mountain and glanced around. The wind was stronger up here than it had been at Laochi Lake, but at least the sun was shining brightly in the sky now and it wasn't quite so cold. Already a lot of the snow was starting to melt.

He felt the rocks shift beneath him, and knew that even though he wasn't that heavy these rocks wouldn't be able to hold his weight for long. Yet this seemed like the best place to scan the mountain. He was still trying to work out where Tero might have vanished to.

_Aha. There._

Hidden amongst the shadows of the rocks was what looked like a cave. It definitely looked more than big enough for a person to walk into. That must have been where he'd gone.

Flying over to the entrance of the cave, Waka hesitated before going inside. It seemed ominously dark in there. Even though Tero no longer had the powers that the crystal had given him, there was no saying he would have chosen somewhere completely safe to hide. There could still be anything hiding in this cave…

Taking a deep breath, Waka drew Pillow Talk from its sheath to create some light, and headed into the darkness.

The green light created eerie dancing shadows on the rocky walls of the cave. It was hard to see much even with the dim glow of the sword, but Waka could see that there were a few sticks wedged in between the rocks. Torches. Tero must have been here before at some point. Otherwise he probably wouldn't have known this cave was here in the first place…

The tunnel seemed to stretch quite far into the mountain, and although there were a lot of winding corners at least there was only one path. Eventually Waka spotted some light up ahead; orange and flickering off the stone walls, like a fire. It looked like he'd found Tero.

As he turned the corner, the tunnel opened out into a wide cave. A small fire burned in the centre, sending more flickering light over the walls.

Metal glinted in the orange light. Tero was standing in front of the fire, weapon in each hand.

"Did you actually think I wouldn't notice you following me?"

"Non, of course not," Waka replied calmly.

"I suppose you're looking for a fight now that I don't have the crystal," Tero muttered, his eyes narrowing.

Waka just shrugged. "If you're that helpless without it, you could always just surrender. Either way, don't expect there to be no consequences for everything you've done."

"Surrender? To you?" Tero almost laughed. "You've had your head in the clouds for too long, moon freak. If it's a fight you want, you can have one."

"Très bien," Waka shrugged, using his free hand to unsheathe the katana as well. "At least it would seem the odds are a little more even this time."

This time Tero actually laughed. "Oh, believe me. I don't need the Akukaen Crystal to kill you."

* * *

Issun was alert for any danger as Amaterasu sped along the path into Wawku Shrine. He'd half expected the place to be infested with demons after everything that had happened lately, but everything was silent. The stalagmites and snow on the ground were already melting in the heat of the sun.

"Looks like all the demons cleared off when we destroyed that crystal," he commented as they entered the shrine. Every time they went into this place they seemed to be in a hurry to find someone – but at least there wasn't a raging snowstorm this time. The clockwork mechanics inside the walls looked just as creepy as ever.

Everything was silent as they sped into the building. Ammy headed straight for the circular spring in the middle, drawing a waterspout and calling a geyser before jumping onto it. The flow of water lifted them up to the platforms above.

"Where you going, Ammy?" Issun asked.

He didn't get a reply. The goddess sped through the rooms of the shrine, passing multiple clockwork machines that they had crossed a year ago. Issun wasn't sure where Ammy intended to get to this way, but she seemed to at least think she knew where she was going, so he'd trust her.

Issun couldn't help feeling nervous as they ran over the dangerously thin ice in one of the rooms further up the mountain. As soon as they were past the danger, they went through a door into a larger room, a raised gate at the far end.

"Ammy, isn't this…" he muttered. "Wait… nah. I don't have any idea where we are. I sure hope you do, furball, cuz I don't fancy getting' lost in here again!"

The wolf gave a quiet grumble.

"Is that yes or no?"

Amaterasu didn't reply once again, leaving Issun to just shrug and hope she knew where she was going.

They passed through the room and out through the gate, ending up in a large circular clearing. A few metres away, steps lead up to a giant clock surface.

"Ohh, this place!" Issun realised. "Ain't this the place where we fought those demon owls?"

Ammy nodded.

"Well, I don't know what we're supposed to do here. Tero's not here and that lift isn't going anywhere."

Padding around the outside of the clock, Ammy wandered over to the place where the wall around the outside had been knocked down last year when Lechku crashed into it. She pawed at the gap in the wall and tried to glance up at him.

"Oh, I see," Issun mused, looking past the wall. There was a pretty nasty drop below, but they were most of the way up the mountain by now, so at least they shouldn't have to climb too much.

He just hoped that they were on the _right_ mountain…

"Well then, Ammy," he shrugged, eyeing the ground far below. "You know what we always say. Leap before you think…"

* * *

For a long moment, neither of them moved. Waka watched Tero carefully, waiting for him to attack first. If there was to be a battle now, he didn't want to be the one that started it.

Yet that didn't mean he didn't want to fight…

There was a flash of silver and suddenly he had to block an attack as Tero tried to hit him with both swords at the same time. There was a clash and angry shriek of metal as Waka held up his katana to defend himself and for a moment he was worried the sword might actually break. Even without his powers, Tero was clearly still strong and an experienced fighter, and Waka remembered their first battle painfully.

_Pourtant, I've had over two hundred years experience fighting. I have to beat him._

_Besides, if I don't, Issun will never let me live it down. If I even live through this fight in the first place…_

He darted to the side, releasing the sheer force of Tero's attack and counterattacking while he was regaining his balance. His attempt did little more than slash his enemy's arm but at the very least it might slow him down.

Annoyingly, Tero barely even flinched. He hardly even seemed to notice the wound and a second later he was attacking again. Not expecting such a quick recovery, Waka felt a blade slice across his shoulder. He jumped away hurriedly.

This was annoying. Waka was barely even getting a chance to attack. He wasn't going to win by just avoiding every strike… maybe that was what Tero intended.

It seemed he was going to have to come up with a plan. And he was going to need to think quickly considering there wasn't exactly time to spare right now.

Tero raced towards him once more and, realising that it would probably be easier to just try and avoid the attacks altogether rather than block them, Waka jumped aside. Metal scraped the rocks behind him, and Waka moved as far away from Tero as he could. There had to be some way of defeating him.

Waka noticed the tear in Tero's coat from where he had managed to wound him at Shinshu. He hadn't seemed to react to a scratch on his arm, but no matter who you were, re-opening old wounds was painful. Waka certainly knew that by now.

He waited for Tero to attack him again. As soon as he did, Waka left it until the last second to dart aside, aiming Pillow Talk as the attack missed and slicing across Tero's side, making sure to hit the place where he'd wounded him before.

This time, his attack actually had some effect. Tero almost fell over; although whether it was from the wound or just his own attack missing it was hard to tell.

Not wanting to miss the chance to attack again, Waka aimed to hit him a second time. Yet Tero span around just in time to block the attack. Waka lashed out with his katana before hopping away once more, managing to leave another scar on Tero's arm which once again was scarcely noticed.

Tero looked more hesitant about attacking him this time. That was a good sign. Re-opening that wound seemed to have affected him at least somewhat. However, he didn't look ready to give up the fight just yet.

He ran towards Waka once more, the flames of the fire flickering wildly from the draft created by his coat. This time he threw one sword aside.

_Quoi? But he doesn't have his powers anymore…_

The sword flew into the rocks nearby, and Waka realised too late that this had only been a distraction. He tried to jump back but he couldn't move out of the way fast enough.

Ditching one of the swords meant that Tero could make his attack a lot stronger. Using both arms he sliced the blade through the air, slashing right across Waka's chest.

He felt his legs nearly give way beneath him as agonising pain seared through his already burnt skin and blood splattered onto the sides of the cave. As painful as it was, however, he knew he had to get away before Tero attacked him again.

He jumped aside to avoid another attack, trying to ignore the pain as best he could. Yet since Tero was wounded as well now, this would probably be the best time to fight back.

As Tero narrowly missed hitting him, Waka decided to take the chance while he was still trying to right his balance. Despite the fact that the wound was screaming at him, Waka dropped the katana and slammed into Tero, forcing him against the wall and holding the beam sword up to his neck.

"I'll say this one more time. Surrender and I won't have to kill you."

For a moment Tero actually looked scared, and Waka felt a flash of satisfaction.

Then he smirked.

"You didn't really think my own tricks would work on me, did you?"

All of a sudden Waka had the breath knocked out of him as he was hit in the stomach, and he fell to the ground winded. In a split second Tero was standing beside him, holding a sword in the air, reading to kill him.

He wouldn't be able to get up quickly enough to move out of the way.

There was only one way to escape now.

_This is going to hurt…_

Waka held his breath as Tero brought the sword slamming down. It clashed against the rock as the prophet vanished in a cloud of sparks.

"What the-!?" Tero cried in disbelief.

As Waka re-appeared nearby, even more blood splashed onto the floor and the pain was even worse than before. But he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

Not giving Tero a chance to retaliate, Waka used Pillow Talk to stab him. From the choked cry of pain he knew he'd finally managed to land a serious injury.

Pulling the sword back and flicking the blood from it, Waka stepped back as Tero collapsed on the ground.

Blood stained the floor. Was he dead?

Apparently not.

Waka was left looking someone shocked as Tero struggled to get back to his feet. Did this guy never give up? Pressing one hand to the wound, Tero looked up and glared at him, using his other sleeve to wipe off the blood that dripped from the corners of his mouth.

"You never told me you could teleport."

"Looks like it was a good thing I didn't," Waka replied evenly, eyes narrowed. The front of Tero's shirt was stained red by now and his legs were shaking from the effort of standing up. "Just give up, Tero."

"Never. I'm not giving in to someone like you."

"Well then, I guess that would make the feeling mutual," Waka shrugged. "But since I'm not as merciless as you are I might as well kill you." That wound would have punctured his stomach. Tero was human; a wound like that would kill him soon anyway. No matter who they were, nobody deserved to die a slow and painful death.

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, FURBAAAALL!" Issun cried as the air rushed past him and he clung to Ammy's fur for dear life.

The wolf landed gracefully on the rocks below, glancing up at the ledge she'd jumped from and letting out a half-bark.

"When I said leap before you think, I didn't mean literally," Issun shuddered. "But anyways… we're here now. Let's go look for Tero and that half-baked prophet."

Giving a shrug, Amaterasu nodded and padded along the rocky path. The ground here was relatively flat, so they wouldn't have any problem just yet.

They trailed around the outside of the walls of the arena until coming to a rocky slope that headed further up the mountain.

"Hmm. I hope you're in the mood for climbing, Ammy," Issun muttered. "Looks like that's the only way from here. And where the heck did those guys go, anyway?"

Ammy scanned the rocks for a moment, as if trying to find a path up them. Then she jumped.

Once again Issun tightened his grip on her fur, knowing that falling off here would be pretty painful since there was such a long way to fall. The wolf was heading diagonally up the mountain, which would be much easier than heading straight up. It took Issun a moment to notice that she was busy sniffing the air as well.

"What's the matter, furball? You smell somethin'?"

She gave a quiet bark, not wanting to disturb any of the loose rocks with loud noises. There was no knowing how stable this place was.

"Well, come on then. Let's keep going."

Amaterasu hopped along the rocks, and Issun took a moment to admire the view. He could see most of Kamui from here.

Eventually they came to a rocky outcrop, and the goddess climbed onto it, glancing around. Issun did the same. Where the heck had the others gone?

Then the ground shifted beneath them.

"Ammy, look out!"

Amaterasu let out a muffled yelp as she felt the ground shift beneath her and jumped away. The rocks crumbled and they landed on the mountain nearby, watching as the dislodged stones rolled down the side of the cliff.

"Glad that wasn't us," Issun murmured uneasily. Looking at the drop below was starting to make him feel dizzy so he glanced away. "Hey look, a cave!"

Not far away he could see an opening in the rocks, almost hidden in the shadows. Nobody would be able to see this from the bottom of the mountain.

"That must be where Tero went," he mused.

Ammy sniffed the ground, letting out a faint whine.

"Yeah, yeah, and that fruitcake too. Let's just go find them already."

They raced into the dark tunnel, and Issun looked around warily. This was reminding him of when he and Chibi had ventured into the Moon Cave. He couldn't see a thing. It was surprising Ammy could even tell where the corners were instead of just crashing right into the walls.

Eventually they saw a light ahead.

"There!" Issun called.

Amaterasu raced into the cave, snarling. Issun was somewhat taken aback.

They were at a large clearing with a fire crackling in the centre, and there was a lot of blood staining the floor and walls by now.

"Amaterasu?"

Issun glanced over as Waka spoke. The prophet had a pretty nasty scar across his chest and his shoulder was bleeding too, but surprisingly he didn't look quite as beaten up as Issun expected.

Tero looked a lot worse. He had wounds on both arms but the worst one was over his stomach. There was an awful lot of blood on the floor as well. With a wound like that, Issun wondered how he wasn't already dead.

"Wow," he muttered. "I expected this to be the other way around."

"Such lack of faith as usual, Issun," Waka teased. He winced, holding a hand to his bleeding chest. "Well then, Amaterasu. I'll let you decide what we do with this man now."

The wolf cast a quick glance at the prophet, her ears twitching backwards at the sight of her wounded friend. Issun just about managed to avoid rolling his eyes.

Even he was taken by surprise as Ammy gave a vicious roar, racing towards Tero.

She lashed out with her Solar Flare, dealing another serious wound to him, probably only just missing the one he already had. He gasped and fell back, his legs collapsing beneath him. He swiped his remaining sword at the wolf but she jumped away before she could get hit.

"Maybe we should just kill him, Ammy," Issun shrugged. "I mean, I know he's a person and all but he was kind of a bastard and he'll probably die soon anyways with those injuries."

The goddess just growled. Issun could tell she was slightly reluctant to kill someone who wasn't a demon, but she did hate Tero for everything he'd done.

But, despite the fact that he was mortally injured and probably in a lot of pain, Tero laughed.

"I get the idea, you want me dead. But if I'm dying here, you lot aren't getting out of here alive either!"

He took something from a pocket inside his coat. It was slightly bloodstained and Issun struggled to work out what it was.

Apparently, Waka noticed before he did.

"Amaterasu, run!"

_A bomb!_

The wolf turned and sped away, just as Issun noticed Tero throwing the sphere towards the fire.

As Amaterasu ran, Issun keeping a tight hold on her fur so he didn't fall off, he glanced behind him. Waka was following them; he could run surprisingly fast even with those weird shoes.

"Hurry, Ammy, _hurry_!" Issun shouted. "That goes for you too, prophet! We gotta get outta here _now_!"

He didn't get a chance to say any more as there was an ear-splitting blast from somewhere behind them and an explosion swept through the tunnel.


	39. Unbroken Bond

Issun was woken up by a bright light shining on him.

"Ugh… Ammy, turn out the sun already, I'm trying to sleep…"

No response.

"Ammy…?"

He opened his eyes blearily and glanced around.

"Aaah! Why is everything all dark!?"

The poncle panicked, looking around frantically. Where on earth was he? There was a light coming from above somewhere… he'd heard you weren't supposed to go towards the light but what the heck.

Issun jumped up, forcing his way out into the daylight, and ended up coughing. Dust floated around, clouding his view, and he tried to work out where he was. He had a dull pain in his shoulder, as if he'd fallen from somewhere and landed on it…

He glanced up, seeing the mountains of Ezofuji towering above. Now he was close to the foot of the mountain, amongst the fallen rocks.

_Oh yeah. That's what happened. _He could just about see where the cave had been; it was completely destroyed now. It was also scarily high above him. _Did I seriously fall that far…? I'm lucky I just got a bruised shoulder._ _Guess I had a lot of practice falling off of things. Thanks a lot, furball._

Then he gasped.

_Furball!_

"Ammy?" he called, scrambling out to stand on the rocks and scan the area. "Where are ya, furball?"

He strained his ears to listen for an answering bark, but he couldn't hear anything.

Ah well. If she couldn't hear him from wherever she was, he'd just have to go and look for her.

Issun made his way across the rocks, thankful that he was only a poncle and wasn't heavy enough to dislodge any more of them. The dust cloud was very gradually starting to disperse. At least he hadn't been unconscious for that long. Yet already the sun was setting behind the mountains, creating long shadows over the rocks.

"Ammy!" he shouted, coughing and wafting away the dust.

Still no reply.

"C'mon, furball, where the heck are ya!?" he cried.

It wasn't long since they'd rescued the goddess. He couldn't lose her again already…

"Stupid Tero," Issun snapped as he frantically searched the mountain. "At least that psycho must be dead now." There was no way Tero could have survived the explosion. He'd chosen to kill himself rather than be killed by them.

What a coward.

After a few minutes, Issun finally spotted something white among the rocks.

"Ammy?"

He hopped over, pausing on a rock nearby where he could see more clearly through the dust. Then he let out a dejected sigh.

It wasn't Ammy, just the white part of one of the wings of Waka's hat that he'd seen. The prophet was out cold and his helmet was dented, so it was lucky for him that he'd had it on or else he'd be dead by now. If he wasn't already…

"Hey! Fruitcake!" Issun snapped. He jumped down to the rocks below and jabbed Waka in the arm with his sword. "Wake up!"

It took a moment for him to react. Waka flinched, his eyes opening slowly. "Quoi…"

"Before you even bother asking what happened," Issun interrupted, "Tero blew up the tunnel and probably got killed, and now Ammy is missing and we need to find her."

A brief look of panic flashed in Waka's eyes. "Oui, we need to find her—ah!" his face creased with pain the second he tried to get up.

"What's the matter?"

"Broken arm," Waka muttered through gritted teeth. "Keep looking for Amaterasu, I'll be there in a moment…"

"Bah. Just stay here, prophet, I can't be bothered with you as well," Issun tutted, hopping away and leaving Waka to recover from his injuries – which probably wouldn't happen any time soon. _Broken arm? Ouch…_

Issun continued hopping along the rocks, looking for any sign of Ammy. She couldn't have gone that far. Heck, maybe she was off looking for him somewhere…

That was when he noticed it.

A shard of rock stuck out from the side of the cliff. As Issun came nearer to it he realised that both it and the boulders around were splattered with blood.

_Oh no…_

A trail of blood marked a path down the mountain, and Issun followed it hurriedly, scared of what he might find. Eventually he spotted something through the mist.

_No… NO!_

"AMMY!"

The wolf was collapsed at the bottom of the cliff, horrifyingly limp.

"Ammy, Ammy!" Issun called, hopping over to her. He hoped that she had just been knocked out from the fall. "C'mon, Ammy, get up! Let's go, furball! We gotta make sure everyone is okay!"

No response. Issun felt his heart lurch as he realised that the ground was stained with blood around the wolf's head.

"Ammy…?" he choked, nudging her muzzle. Once again there was no response. "Ammy, wake up! AMMY!"

He tried lifting her head, but it just flopped limply back to the ground again. The white fur on the side of her face was stained red.

"Come on, Ammy! AMMY!" Issun screamed, feeling tears stream down his face. "We won! We finally beat Tero! This ain't any time to go dying on everyone, furball!"

Still the wolf didn't react. Letting out a strangled sob, Issun felt his legs collapse beneath him and he buried his face in her fur.

_Why…!?_

"No… ma chérie, no!"

The voice startled Issun and he glanced up to see Waka stumbling to the small clearing they were in. He was clutching his arm with one hand and he no longer had his hat. Issun noticed the look of sheer dismay in his expression as he saw the limp wolf and the prophet fell to his knees.

"No…"

Waka never showed his emotions. Even so, Issun could see the tears forming in his eyes, eventually spilling over and rolling down his face.

_Just go away, prophet,_ Issun thought silently, resting his head back against the wolf's fur. He wouldn't have been able to tell whether she was warm or cold having been out in Kamui for so long. He didn't want to listen for a heartbeat, terrified of being met with silence, just like what had happened with Chibi…

"Please, Ammy," he murmured, his voice cracking every other word. "Just wake up… please…!" He let out a long sigh. "What am I supposed to tell everyone? How am I supposed to be a celestial envoy if you're not there? Sakuya will have my head. We have so much to do… who's gonna help Kushi get the water for her sake? And make sure Mushi doesn't get beaten up by his mama for digging up her crops? And what about Mr. Orange? How's he supposed to keep the Konohana tree healthy without you to bloom the trees for him? Not to mention Mrs. Orange's cherry cakes…"

Suddenly, Issun felt her move.

"Ammy…?"

The wolf's ears twitched slightly. For a moment Issun thought he must be imagining things. Then Ammy gave a quiet whimper, her eyes opening slightly.

"Ammy!" Issun gasped, a smile returning to his face at last.

She gave a quiet bark, lifting her head.

"Hah! I knew you were alive, furball! Just like you to wake up the second someone mentions food…" he laughed.

Ammy's tail began to wag as she climbed back to her paws. She had a pretty nasty-looking gash on the side of her face but already it had stopped bleeding. Probably because she was a god.

"Stupid furball, getting me worried like that," Issun smiled, wiping his eyes with one hand to try and cover up the fact that he'd been crying – even though nobody would be able to see anyways.

The wolf reached down and licked him.

"Ergh! Gross! Wolf spit!" he grimaced, but even so he hugged her muzzle. "Good to have ya back, furball."

She stayed there for a moment, tail wagging furiously, before glancing up and running off.

_Typical, _Issun thought to himself, though he didn't say anything out loud for once.

Amaterasu raced towards Waka, jumping on him and knocking the prophet over backwards, licking his face.

"Ow!" he gasped as he hit the ground but laughed anyways. "Ma chérie, I'm glad you're okay. But… can you get off my arm please…"

The wolf let out a whimper and jumped back, letting him sit up somewhat painfully. She nudged his face and he hugged her with his good arm, smiling.

"It's okay, ma chérie. Apology accepted."

"Well then," Issun continued, eager to break up the scene. "Ammy, what d'you say we head back? We gotta give everyone the good news. And you might wanna get something for that wound."

Ammy padded back over to him, swiping her tongue over the side of her muzzle as if trying to wipe off the blood.

"I'm assuming that Tero is dead," Waka muttered. "We were lucky to survive that explosion."

"He must be," Issun shrugged. "He got blown up; he'd have been ripped to pieces. Even Ammy wouldn't have been able to survive that, let alone a human. I think it's safe to say Tero won't be bothering us any more. Thank the gods. Literally."

"Well, ma chérie," Waka countered, standing up and wincing as he clutched his arm. "Where to now?"

The goddess glanced at him for a moment and barked.

"Okay then, furball," Issun shrugged. "Tuskle it is."

* * *

**Well. Apparently this chapter is longer on FF than it is on Word. That makes like no sense but whatever.**

**And yes, Tero IS dead now. Incase you were expecting him to appear in a sequel or something. He's a human, I don't think he could survive an explosion xD**

**So then. Only the epilogue left now. Gonna miss this story ;-;**


	40. Epilogue

**Ah, the epilogue. The end. This story was so much fun to write and heck knows I'm gonna miss it xD**

**I do have other stories to write however~**

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this story, and I'll probably be seein' ya soon, knowing me and my obsessive writing xD But for now, enjoy the epilogue~**

* * *

The sun was gradually rising above the horizon, filling Yakushi Village with light. A statue was outlined against the sunlight, looking down over the village as if keeping watch. It was a life-size stone figure of a wolf puppy.

"Oh, Pooch…" Kagu sighed, resting her hand on the statue's head. The stone was cold, but it was starting to warm up because of the sun.

Eventually Kagu drew her hand back, glancing around to watch the rising sun. It had only been two days since the big fight. Pooch – or Chibi, as Issun called him – had been given his own statue already, just like she'd heard in the stories of Shiranui. Yet instead of protecting the Konohana tree, Pooch's statue was standing guard over Yakushi Village. He'd always wanted to visit this place often, whether it was to see the blacksmith, shaman, or just to go and see the villagers…

Hurriedly Kagu blinked and wiped an eye with her sleeve.

"Its okay, Pooch. You fought for all of us. I trained you well, huh?"

"Kagu? Who are you talking to?"

The miko gasped as she heard someone calling her name and looked around hurriedly, causing her wound to hurt. "Uh—nobody," she muttered, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

"Oh." Ayame walked over, looking intently at the statue. "Huh. This statue looks a lot like that doggie. The one that was with you when you brought the herbs that made me better."

"It _is_ him," Kagu said quietly.

"Really? He looks different though," Ayame shrugged. "He's got all these funny markings now."

"They're not 'funny markings', he has them because he's a god!" Kagu tutted. "And he died saving his friends."

"The doggie died?" Ayame gasped. "Aww… that's so sad…"

Kagu just blinked, realising Ayame really did seem to have no idea what she was talking about. "Well, I'm going now." She wanted to go to Kamiki while she still had the chance to sneak out. Her parents hadn't let her leave the village since the fight because she was wounded.

"Oh, okay. Bye," Ayame waved as she walked away.

Kagu waved back, making her way through the maze of bridges in the village. As soon as she reached the exit she glanced around briefly before hopping down to the path below, heading through the waterfall cave.

_Phew. Safe._

She emerged out into Shinshu field, glancing around at the plains which were gradually filling with light. The nameless man was up bright and early chopping wood, and as Kagu scanned the area she spotted another figure nearby.

"Hey, Kaguya!"

"Hmm?" the golden-haired woman blinked and looked around as she heard her name. "Oh, hi Kagu. Shouldn't you be back in Yakushi? I heard you got injured…"

"Ah, it's no big deal," Kagu shrugged. _Ow._ "Besides, I got bored of being stuck there. I was heading over to Kamiki to go see the others."

"I think something's going on at Kamiki," Kaguya shrugged. "Everyone seems to be preparing for something, but I don't know what."

"Preparing for something?" Kagu echoed. "Like what? It's not another demon attack, is it?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Kaguya shook her head, smiling slightly. "They're putting up decorations."

"Sounds like some kind of celebration," the miko commented. "Maybe it's because we won the battle. C'mon, Kaguya, let's go check it out!"

"What? Oh, okay," Kaguya laughed. "Why not."

* * *

"Oki! Oki!"

"Huh? What?" the Oina warrior glanced around as he heard the voice, trying to work out where it had come from. Eventually he spotted a small yellow light hopping through the snow. "Miya? What are you doing out here?"

"Practicing," the poncle chirped, hopping onto a nearby rock. "Incase Ponc'tan is ever in trouble again and I need to get help. Last time I only just made it out of the forest."

"Okay then," Oki muttered, glad that she wouldn't be able to see the confused expression behind his mask.

Miya looked around, her eyes finally coming to rest on the gravestone beside the cliff. "Is that…?"

"Yeah… it's Kai's grave," Oki sighed. She'd been buried near the entrance to Yoshpet.

"Why's it all the way out here?" Miya questioned, her voice sounding uncharacteristically sympathetic.

"You know Kai," Oki smiled half-heartedly. "She loved to race through Yoshpet."

"Oh, right. Umm… any chance of a lift to Wep'keer?" Miya asked sheepishly. "I haven't seen everyone there in ages and travelling around when you're really small is hard work…"

"Hah, fine," Oki laughed, rolling his eyes. He morphed into his wolf form. "Hop on; I was heading there next anyways."

"Yay! Thanks, Oki!" Miya cheered, her yellow light glowing brighter as she jumped up onto his head.

* * *

"The people around here sure look happy now, huh, Kamo?"

"Yeah. Everyone's settling back quickly," Kamo nodded as he and Abe walked along the main street of Sei'an City commoner's quarter. "Dr. Bluebeard is looking out for anyone who's injured and the guards are all alert incase anything else attacks."

"Well, what do we do now?" Abe asked. "Now that evil guy's gone. Do we just go back to our old lives in the city?"

"Waka said that there were probably still some smaller demons around after everything that happened recently," Kamo told him. "So the city could still use our help to defend it incase any of them come here."

"Wait, when did the captain say that?" Abe blinked.

"I saw him yesterday," Kamo shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"He's got a broken arm. I don't think he needs you trying to hug him when he's injured," Kamo joked, giving Abe a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Anyways, he insisted that he's not our captain anymore since he was gone for so long."

"But… what do we do without a captain?" Abe persisted.

"We haven't had a captain for the past year," Kamo reminded him. "Anyway, we used to serve under Queen Himiko as well, before she died. We just need to help whoever's in charge protect the city, and right now that looks like some of the mikos."

"Okay then," Abe muttered, glancing around at the commoner's quarter. "Hopefully nothing will happen for too long."

* * *

Issun let out a contented sigh as he sat back on Amaterasu's head. "Ah, Kamiki Festival. Good thing we cleared up that mess in time for the party, huh Ammy?"

The wolf barked, tail wagging. She had no scars to show for the scrape they'd been in even though it was only a few days back; the wound she'd got had healed already. _Lucky furball._ Still, at least the scars Issun had got from fighting Blight were starting to disappear now and he was almost completely recovered from when Tero burnt him.

Issun looked up at the starlit sky above as the first few fireworks exploded into colour. They'd spent the day watching the villagers make preparations for the festival, helping out when they could. Now that the celebration was officially underway, people from nearby were pouring into the village. Kokari and his family were there, as well as Nanami, Kaguya, and most of the people who were staying or living at Yakushi Village.

From where they were sat near the river, Issun could see Kushi selling sake from the stall she'd set up earlier – Susano had tried to help but failed miserably. Hayabusa and Ume were racing around the village barking, and Kokari and Mushi were talking together near the unguarded crop field.

"You guys better not be plotting anything!" Issun called, grinning.

"'Course not!" Mushi protested. "Mama's got eyes like a hawk. If anyone lays a finger on her crops, they're dead meat. We're still gonna beat your record one day, though. You won't be the hole-digging king forever!"

"Hah! Dream on," Issun laughed. He looked down at the wolf; she already looked like she was falling asleep. "So, Ammy, what ya wanna do first? Since you're a wolf I guess getting any of Kushi's sake is out of the question."

The goddess lifted her head, let out a loud yawn, and rested it back on her paws again.

"Aw, c'mon, Ammy, get in the festival spirit! If you don't wanna hang around here we could always go and see Sakuya."

Giving a quiet grumble, Amaterasu got to her paws, stretching, and padded off along the path.

They headed up the winding trail towards the Konohana tree, Issun watching the sun deck to see a somewhat drunk Mr. Orange dancing.

"Keep on tearin' up the dance floor, gramps!" he shouted, though the old man didn't appear to hear him.

Suddenly Ammy gave a bark and, not expecting the movement, Issun fell off her head, landing on the path.

"Oof!" he gasped. "Furball, what the—furball?"

She'd vanished already.

"Ammy?" he called, continuing along the path. "Oh come on! Don't go disappearing _again_!"

"Don't worry, Issun. She just headed into the Cave of Nagi; there's no danger there."

"Oh, heya Sakuya!" Issun smiled as the wood sprite appeared nearby. "I see you're just as beautiful as ever! Heh heh!"

"I must admit," Sakuya continued. "I did have my doubts as to whether you'd be able to save Amaterasu. But you succeeded, and for that I am thankful."

"Heck yeah I succeeded. Though to be fair I did have a lotta help," Issun admitted. Then his face fell. "Ammy's gonna have to go back to the Celestial Plain soon, ain't she?"

"Yes, and I'm afraid you must stay here, Issun," Sakuya shook her head sympathetically. "The work of a Celestial Envoy is very important. But never fear; I'm sure you'll see her again some day."

"I'll see her again as soon as I find her," Issun shrugged. "Oh, hey… Sakuya, honey, do we get a reward or anything? For savin' Ammy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I jump in your clothes again?"

"No."

"Aww."

* * *

Amaterasu sped along the moonlit paths inside the mysterious area of the Cave of Nagi. Very few people even knew of this place's existence so as usual everything was silent.

She slowed her pace as she reached the path leading up to the shrine. She'd picked up the scent outside but hadn't heard a sound other than her own pawsteps since she came in here. No familiar sound of a flute…

As she reached the top of the slope the shrine finally came into view. Moonlight seeped through the ceiling of the cave, illuminating the large statue – which looked slightly different than when she'd last seen it – as well as golden hair at the end of the ledge nearby.

Waka glanced around as he heard the sound of her claws tapping against the stone floor. "Ah, bonjour, ma chérie."

The wolf padded over to sit at his side, tilting her head questioningly.

"If you're asking why I'm out here, festivals aren't really my thing," he muttered. He was sat on the edge of the cliff, and Ammy wondered how long he'd been out here alone. She hadn't seen him since they left Kamui days ago. Right now his left arm was in a sling and because of this his kimono was draped over his back, making it easy to see all the bandages he had on from the multiple wounds he'd collected recently.

Nudging his shoulder – on his right – she let out a quiet whimper.

"Don't worry, Amaterasu, I'm okay," Waka smiled.

Glancing at the flute which was resting on the ground, the wolf nudged it with her muzzle, rolling it towards him.

Waka caught it to stop it from rolling away but didn't pick it up. "Sorry, ma chérie, I can't. You need both hands to play a flute," he sighed. "I'd better stay clear of any demons for a while too, I can't draw Pillow Talk either."

Letting out a dejected sigh, Amaterasu flopped down next to him, resting her head on his lap. Ah well. If anything did attack then she'd protect him.

"Thank you, Amaterasu," he smiled half-heartedly, running a hand through her fur. "And… I'm sorry. For getting you captured. If it wasn't for me none of this would have happened…"

She glanced up at him in surprise, shaking her head. It wasn't his fault. Yet Waka just glanced away, unable to meet her gaze. No matter what she thought, he would still believe that everything was his fault…

Knowing that there wouldn't be any way of convincing him, Ammy just reached up and licked his cheek.

"Ack! Hey!" Waka laughed, wiping the wolf slobber from his face. "Honestly, ma chérie, you can be so ungodly sometimes…"

She just blinked at him, tail wagging.

"Speaking of gods," he continued, "hopefully the rest of the brush gods will be okay looking after the Celestial Plain for a while. I can't pilot the ark with one arm, so we might not be able to get back for a few weeks."

Amaterasu shrugged, glancing up even though there was nothing to see other than the roof of the cave and the night sky. There was no immediate danger to the Celestial Plain, so the place would be fine without her for a while, especially with the other brush gods guarding it.

And now that they'd beaten Tero, Nippon was a lot safer as well. People had gone back to their ordinary lives and there were a lot of old friends that she wanted to see.

With little danger around, there was no longer any reason to be afraid of the dark.


End file.
